Golden Ruby
by KoiAndJelly
Summary: When a certain redhead is helped out by the Elric brothers, craziness ensues. But when she disappears for a year and shows up a second time, an adventure is born... But things won't go so smoothly. With magic, Homunculi, Witches, and more anything could happen! Hiatus...
1. The first encounter

**Hmmm… I wonder where this'll go… I like the idea of this, so I hope it all works out :3**

**Also! In this chapter and part of the next, Kyoko is 13, almost 14, Ed just turned 14, and Al is 13. I'll smooth out everything eventually.**

* * *

Cold rain poured down from the sky in thick sheets, ruining the little makeshift shelter tucked away in an alley. The chilly water seeped through the cardboard roof, steadily dripping onto its inhabitant's back. Her scarlet hair fell over her eyes, and she trembled from the cold. She tightly held a gem the same color of red as her eyes, but her eyes were squeezed tightly shut at the moment, shut like she could just close out the entire world and block it out with such a simple action. Just a few days ago, everything was fine. So why had everything she held dear to her crashed down around her so quickly and easily? She had even gone so far as to abandon and attack her best friend over a stupid disagreement. Now all she felt like doing was lying around, not caring enough to get out of the rain. So she did just that.

Her senses dulled, she opened her eyes and allowed her gaze to slowly skim across the dark, wet alley. She heard clanking and someone talking, and the noise approached her. She narrowed her eyes, and wanted to run away so that she could just... be alone for a while. If she was going to be alone, then damn it, let her! But her joints were stiff from the chilly air and frigid water, so she could barely even move. She slowly slipped into unconsciousness as she was lifted up.

* * *

"Hurry up Al!" Ed yelled as he ran down the street, eager to get out of the rain. Alphonse trailed behind him at a steady pace since the downpour had no effect on his armor body.

"I'm right behind you, Brother." Al responded, chuckling at his older brother's impatience.

They continued down the sidewalk, but then Al stops to look in an alley. He saw a small red glow emanating from the shadows.

"Huh?" Al mumbled as he wandered in. The glow was coming from a soggy shelter.

"Al? Al, you aren't picking up strays are you!? You know we can't take care of a cat!" Ed yelled as he followed him into the alley. Al ignored him and let out a quiet gasp, then he crouched down to pick something up.

Ed furrowed his brow in confusion, then Al stood up and turned to him. In his arms was a girl with long red hair pulled up into a ponytail. Her eyes were half opened and she seemed pretty out of it. In her hands was a tiny red gem that twinkled with a strange light.

The older brother blinked.

"What do we do?" Alphonse asked as he tried to keep the rain off the half-unconscious girl. "I don't think she's conscious..."

"Hm. Let's take her to the dorm for now." Ed said as he turned around. "She looks like she could use some warming up. Might as well help her out, then. C'mon."

* * *

The girl slowly woke up. The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't very cold or wet. Second was that her jacket and gem was gone. She groaned and tried to sit up, pushing a towel and blanket off of her, but a pair of hands gently pushed her back down.

"You need to rest." An echoey voice told her. "Brother, she's awake!"

"Okay!" A male voice replied from another room.

The girl scowled and opened her eyes. After she adjusts to the light, she blinked a few times. "Uh…" She muttered, staring at the huge suit of armor in front of her. It had glowing red orbs in the openings of its helmet. Eyes she guessed. Pretty weird, although she had seen plenty weirder.

"Hello!" It… he? said cheerfully.

She blinked again, comprehending what kind of mess she had gotten herself into this time. "Hi…" She mumbled warily. "Who are you? And where am I?"

The armor sat down on a chair across from the couch she was lying on.

"I'm Alphonse Elric." He introduced himself. "You can call me Al. Right now you're at my brother's dorm. We found you in an alley nearby and since it was raining really hard and it looked like you needed a place to stay… You passed out as well, so… uh. Why are you staring at me?"

The girl was staring at him with a look of suspicion in her crimson eyes. She frowned slightly and looks away.

Awkward silence filled the room.

"Um… What's your name?" Al asked politely, breaking the silence.

"The name's Kyoko Sakura." She stated dully.

"It sounds foreign." Al commented.

She gives him a sideways glance. "That's 'cause it is. 'S Japanese." Kyoko told him.

"Japanese? So... Japan. That's the country east of Xing, right?" Al said. "Are you from there then?"

"Sorta. Born there but moved to Amestris when I was a baby." She muttered. She sat up, propping her back up against the arm of the couch. She looks around the room. It wasn't all that homey. Two armchairs and a coffee table in the center of the room and a lamp by a window. There was also the couch she was lying on.

"So that means you have a family right?" Al asked. "Where are they?"

Kyoko frowned and her gaze hardened. "None of your business." She growled. "And before you ask I ain't got a home either. Not anymore."

Al shifted a bit, creaking quietly. "Sensitive subject." He made a mental note.

Ed walked in. "Just got off the phone. Mustang wants us to come in tomorrow. He got a new lead." He said to Al. He then looked at Kyoko. "But… Right. What's your name?"

"Kyoko Sakura." She said. "You?"  
"I'm Edward Elric." He told her. The look in his eyes became serious. "I want to ask you about something."

Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" She asked.

Ed stepped closer to the couch and he sat the red gem on the arm of the couch that Kyoko wasn't leaning on. "This. What is it? I saw it glow earlier and it looks a lot like something I'm looking for." He said, watching the red eyed girl carefully.

"You're lookin' for a soul gem?" She muttered quietly. It was almost so quiet that Ed didn't hear her, but he caught the key words 'soul gem'.

"A soul gem?" He questioned her. "What is that? Why is it glowing?"

Kyoko snorted and quickly thought of something to make up for her little slip up. "Just a fancy piece of jewelry. Ain't anything special." She lied casually.

Ed's eyes narrowed as he detected her lie. Being in the military for a while had taught him to learn when people were lying, and Kyoko had answered a bit too quickly. "Really?" He persisted.

"Yeah. If you knew anything 'bout girls you'd know that they're startin' to get really popular." Kyoko retorted. Somewhat a lie. "But since you don't know what it is, I take it you've never had a girlfriend before."

Ed scowled. "I've never seen anyone that has one. And I haven't seen any in stores before." He pressed.

"You go jewelry shopping?" Kyoko smirked.

Al looked at the two and sweat dropped.

"You're avoiding the question." Ed growled, ignoring her taunts.

An annoyed look crossed Kyoko's face. "Maybe I don't want to answer your question." She replied as she crossed her arms and looked away.

Ed glared at Kyoko for a moment.

"Well I think I'm good to go now." She scowled, standing up.

Al got up. "Are you sure? It's still raining outside and-"

"I'll be fine." She interrupted him as she makes her way to the door, snatching up her soul gem as she walked.

Ed frowned and grabbed her arm. "Not so fast. You haven't answered my question." He reminds her.

Kyoko stopped, then the atmosphere changed. She suddenly seemed more threatening for some reason, but Ed chose to ignore the feeling.

"Let go." She told him.

"What? No!" Ed said, tightening his grip. "Not until you- AH!"

Kyoko twisted out of his grasp and turned to him. Before he could react she shoved him into the wall and held him up about three inches off the ground. Her elbow pressed against his flesh shoulder with her forearm just under his neck, her hand holding a fist of cloth on his jacket so that she didn't lose her grip.

Ed freaked out slightly. A moment ago she was just an annoyed girl who almost froze to death. Now she was lifting him like he was nothing and looked pretty damn calm about it.

"I ain't gonna make a big scene or anything, 'kay?" She said, her voice low. "I really am grateful that you helped me 'n all, but I didn't ask for help either. I don't owe you any answers about my stuff or my life or anything." She dropped him.

"Brother!" Alphonse exclaimed, rushing over to his surprised older brother.

Kyoko smirked and walked towards the door. "Calm down. I didn't hurt him." She assured Al. She snatched her still damp jacket off a rack by the door and she slipped it on. "Thanks for the hospitality." Kyoko walked out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

* * *

Ed blinked a few times, still comprehending what had happened. "She shouldn't have been able to move that fast. She definitely shouldn't have been strong enough to lift me so easily!" He thought.

"Brother, are you okay?" Al said, shaking his dazed older brother a few times.

Ed frowned. "Yeah, I'm okay." He told him. "…Oh crap! She's getting away! C'mon!" Ed quickly stood up, then he darted out of the room.

"Wait up!" Al called, running after him.

...

Outside, Kyoko walked into an alley. She rolled her soul gem around in her right hand, watching it with lazy interest. Tiny raindrops fell from the sky, hitting her lightly and dampening her recently dried hair and clothes. Footsteps come from behind her, and she stopped to glance over her shoulder.

"'Course…" She muttered as Ed and Al turn into the alley, slipping slightly on the wet cobblestone. Her eyes glimmer with mischief as a plan forms in her mind. A half-assed plan, mind you.

"Please don't run!" Al yelled to her. "We just want to ask you some questions! We're sorry if we offended you or anything." He was a bit upset that she attacked Ed before, but if he was rude she might not listen. Not that he'd be rude... Just mad.

Kyoko smirked, her little fang popping over her lip. "Alright. But first, ya gotta catch me!" She announced. "If ya do, I'll talk to ya!" Before they could respond, she zipped off.

"Ah! Hey, wait!" Ed shouted, running after her. "Grrr, she's making this way harder than it needs to be!"

Al followed suit, moving at a slightly slower pace than Edward. "It shouldn't be too difficult. She just woke up and isn't completely healthy."

Ed considered this, then nodded. "Yeah." He agreed. "We just have to keep up!"

…Easier said than done.

The tricky redhead was pretty fast, and she never stopped to rest either. Ed and Al managed to stay a couple yards behind her, but every time they got close she made a different turn or something stopped them from getting closer.

"What the HELL!?" Ed yelled in frustration. "Every time we get close we fall behind! Why won't she stop!? She's gotta be cheating or something!"

Kyoko changed her route, dashing into an alley with a sharp turn.

"Well two can play at that game!" Ed said under his breath as he claps his hands together. He turned to the alley and slapped his hands down. There was a satisfying crackle of alchemic energy, then the blue sparks traveled across the ground.

"Eh?" Kyoko muttered as a wall rose up in front of her. "Aw, what the hell? Alchemy…?" She turned to Ed with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. "Ya know. That's cheatin'."

"You cheated first!" He yelled, pointing his finger at her. He then leaned on a wall, trying to catch his breath. "You… were… dying of cold… yesterday… damn it!"

"I wasn't "dying of cold". I just got a little chill is all." She said nonchalantly, adding a little shrug to punctuate her lack of fucks given.

"A little chill!?" Ed yelled, now extremely frustrated.

While Edward raged, Al stood at the entrance (well…now the only exit) of the alley. He watched them carefully, waiting to step in if something goes wrong. "We did catch you." Al pointed out.

"Yeah, by cheating." Kyoko muttered, crossing her arms. She leaned against the wall behind her, tapping the back with her heel a few times.

"YOU CHEATED FIRST!" Ed roared. "QUIT SCREWING AROUND!"

Kyoko looked at him. "Don't blow a gasket there shorty." She said, tilting her head to the side with an unamused expression.

"SHORTY!?"

There was a clap, then several stone fists shot at Kyoko, much to her surprise.

"What the!? Ah!" She shouted in shock. A fist crashes into the ground next to her, shattering and creating a cloud of dust. The others shoot through the cloud, making crumbling noises when they hit. It didn't sound like they had hit Kyoko though…

"Brother! Don't hurt her!" Al exclaimed, worried that his brother had crushed the girl in his fit of rage.

There was then a red flash of light, and then a string of chains and metal bars spun around from within the muddy cloud away. Kyoko stepped out with a look of intense annoyance on her face. The chains and metal bars connected, forming a powerful lance in her hands.

Ed blinked. She was wearing a red dress that was split down the middle with a pink and black skirt underneath. On her chest was the red gemstone from earlier, and it glimmered with a mystical scarlet light.

"Well then." Kyoko sighed as she twirled her lance into an offensive position. "That wasn't very nice."

* * *

**Didja like it? I've been thinking about making this fanfic for a long time, and I finally decided to write it. Here's some things to clear up… Kyoko's family died a few days ago in the current time, and she recently broke off from Mami. That's why she was all sour and lying in the rain 'n stuff.**

**Also, as for the geography of this world... Japan is aaaall the way over to the east of Xing. Sorta kinda like how it is in our world! Sorta...**

**Omake:**

Ed furrowed his brow in confusion, then Al stood up and turned to him. In his arms was a girl with long red hair pulled up into a ponytail. Her eyes were half opened and she seemed pretty out of it. In her hands was a tiny red gem that twinkled with a strange light.

The older brother blinked.

"Al, you can't keep a hobo as a pet." He said sternly, eyes blazing. "Go put her back right now!"

"YOU'RE SO MEAN BROTHER!" Alphonse cried, turning around and running away with his new hobo pet.

Kyoko was just barely conscious, but she could tell what was going on. "Fuck my life..." She muttered before slipping into unconsciousness.


	2. Crossing paths

**Be warned of some ****strong ****language. Heheh. Kyoko's got a sailor's mouth :3**

* * *

"Well then." Kyoko said as she twirled her lance into an offensive position. "That wasn't very nice."

"Where the hell did you get that from!?" Ed demanded, stepping back a bit. His eyes traveled to the red gem on her chest, then he glared at her. "And that gem! It definitely looks like what I'm looking for!"

The redhead smirked, tapping the pole of her lance on the ground. "Magic." She grinned as she twirled her lance to the side again, landing the tip on the ground.

Ed looked at the ground around her and then at the lance. No signs of any transmutations, but what else could it be!? "Magic doesn't exist! Quit lying dumbass!" Ed growled. "You're using a Philosopher's Stone, aren't you!?"

Kyoko sighed. "Silly little," She stepped to the side to dodge a punch. "Alchemist. Ya ain't very open minded, are ya? Also…" She swung the pole of her lance at him. Kyoko had decided that she didn't really want to hurt either of the boys, so she wasn't going go and stab them or anything.

Ed dodges the pole with ease, but much to his surprise, it separated into segments.

"Look out!" Al warned his brother as he goes in to help, but red barriers rise out of the ground to stop him. "Ah! What is this…?"

Kyoko took a few stepped towards Ed, and on the last step she turns slightly and slings the whip of metal at him with striking speed.

"Wha- Agh!" The chains slam into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him into the wall.

The lance reconnected, and Kyoko smirked. "…Don't try to hit me." She finished as Ed tries to regain his breath, coughing heavily.

Ed looked up and quickly clapped his hands together then slammed his palms onto the ground. A stone hand shot out of the ground, trying to grab the threat in front of him. Kyoko gasped and leaped back to avoid the hand, but the sound of heavy clanking behind her came to her attention. She glanced back and paled as a pair of metal hands grabs her. Al had used alchemy to make a pathway over the red barriers.

"Hey! Lemme go!" She yelled as she tried to squirm away.

"We just wanted to ask you some questions!" Al said with an upset tone. "Why would you attack my brother!?"

Kyoko scowled. "Are you freaking blind!? He attacked me first!"

"You called me little." Ed coughed, standing up.

"That is a fuckong stupid reason to attack someone!" Kyoko snarled at him. She yanked herself away from Alphonse then dashed back to a safe distance. "And you have no business asking me about my things! And I'm pretty damn sure it ain't what you're looking for! In fact, I know it's not what you're looking for!" She looked around, looking for an escape route.

"How can you be so sure?" Ed argued. "We barely know anything about it and we need all the clues we can get! So just answer us this: Is that a Philosopher's Stone?"

Kyoko glowered at him and she stuck the tip of her lance into the ground. "No it's not a damn Philosopher's Stone. Is that some alchemy bullshit?" She growled. Her scarlet eyes glittered with annoyance. "Because this is definitely not alchemy."

"What? But it-"Ed starts. He stepped forwards, then stops as Kyoko put her hand on her hip and frowns at him.

There was a red flash, and Kyoko's spear vanished and her dress was replaced by her teal jacket, mini shorts, and brown boots. She sighed and stretched.

"So all ya did was chase me 'round for nothin'." Kyoko said as she turned around. "Here's something to keep in mind… Don't assume things 'cause when you assume you make an ass of you and me."

"Uh… Hey, wait!" Al called after Kyoko as she dashed away.

"Not again." Ed mumbled as he ran out of the alley to chase after the enigmatic girl, but when he looked around, she was nowhere to be seen.

No matter where they looked, they found no trace of her. And after a couple days of asking around the city and checking all the places people usually hide, they gave up.

* * *

_One year later..._

* * *

Kyoko was just minding her own business, enjoying a delicious cookie and watching some guy. Said guy was kinda weird. He had slightly stringy black hair tied up in a ponytail, and he was wearing a tattered looking cloak over a blue military uniform. And he was killing people with alchemy.

"Witch's Kiss or… Nah." She concluded after stepping closer to look at the guy as he froze someone.

The man looked at her, obviously confused by the little girl approaching him. "Get lost, kid." He growled.

"Nah man, I'm good." She said as she takes a bite of the cookie. "Hmm… Yeah, you look pretty normal. Or crazy. Yep, you're insane, ain'tcha?"

The man blinked. "Do you have a death wish or something?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

An MP ran closer to them, pointing his pistol at the man. "Hey, little girl! Get away from there right now!" He shouted.

Kyoko ignored his warning and shrugged, continuing to eat her cookie. She watched as the killer turned to the soldier, dodging bullets and pushing his hand forwards onto the MP's head. There was a gauntlet of some sort on his hand, and it had a transmutation circle on it. Another death.

Then the frosty freezy murderer man pressed his hand down on a puddle as more soldiers approached. Steamy freezy murderer man, it appears.

"Eh? WOAH!" Kyoko gasped as a huge burst of steam erupted from the puddle.

…

She looked down at her cookie… Her… cookie. It was all soggy and fell apart in her hand.

"!" Kyoko's eyes widened. "M-my cookie! It's wasted! That asshole made me waste food!" She roared as she looked around. "Motherfucker's gonna get gutted for this!"

Seething with rage, she dashed off in the general direction of where the steamy freezy cookie murderer man had run off to.

She transformed mid-run into her dress and she picked up more speed.

"Where'd he go…?" She mumbled after a while. She was now on top of a building, trying to get a higher view to spot the cookie killer. "Hmm… ah-ha!" She heard clanking and voices a few houses away, and she leapt towards the noise. "Yeah, that's definitely him…" Her lance materialized in her hands. She was entirely focused on the guy that killed her precious cookie, and not on the other two in the alley. Without a second thought, she hops down, landing with her lance pointed downwards.

The cookie killer noticed at the last second and jumps back, avoiding the lance. Shards of stone and rock fly through the air as her lance pierces the ground.

"MOTHERFUCKER! Stay still and let me kill you!" Kyoko roared as she landed neatly on the ground, pulling the lance up. She pointed it at him.

"Get away from there!" An echoey voice said behind her. "You're gonna get hurt- huh?"

Kyoko paid no attention to the people behind her and glared at the man in front.

"You're that kid from earlier… I've been attacked by two little kids today…" He muttered.

Kyoko frowns and slammed him into the side of the alley with the pole of her lance. "Quit callin' me a little kid." She growled, her eyebrows twitching in annoyance.

"AND DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!" Another, much louder, voice behind Kyoko yelled. She hadn't bothered to look behind her since she wanted to focus on her task, but she recognized that voice.

There was a clap, then sparks, then the man in front was surrounded by stone.

Kyoko quickly turned around to face some familiar alchemists. "No way. It's you guys!" She gasped as she looks at Ed and Al.

"Who're you…?" Ed said before he blinked in realization. "Wait… you're that girl we saw in east city! Kyoko, right? Why are _you_ here?" He remembered her struggle quite well and wasn't all that pleased to see her.

"Yep, it's me." She grinned. "Just chasin' down a cookie killer."

"Cookie killer?" Al echoed.

"Yeah. This retard thought it would be a good idea to fuck up my snack." Kyoko growled, pointing at the man. "So I've decided he should die."

"You're going to kill him over a cookie!?" Ed exclaims, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Must have been a pretty good cookie…" Al comments quietly.

"Hell yeah, it was an awesome cookie! _Was_." She said, putting her free hand on her hip. "And I'd kill him even if it was a bad cookie. Wasting food is the worst possible thing."

Ed and Al sweatdropped, then they turn their attention back towards the "cookie killer".

"You can't kill him though." Ed said as he crouches down over his jacket, which was on the ground. "It's up to the military to decide if he should die or not. And… How old are you? You shouldn't try to _kill_ people!"

Kyoko shrugged. "'re you in the military then? And it's rude to ask a girl her age." She said, tilting her head slightly. Her gaze travels to his right arm, which was shining in the light of streetlamps and the moon. Not a big deal to her, so she looked back at the guy.

"Yeah, I'm in the military." Ed grumbled as he fixed his jacket with alchemy. "And how is it rude?"

"Just is." Kyoko said. She turned her attention back to her cookie's murderer. "So. What's your name?"

"Why should I tell you?" He grunted. His face was kinda squished by the stone, so he sounded funny.

Kyoko grinmed evilly. "Because _I'm_ the one with the big-ass lance." She said, holding up her weapon.

"Mmfgh… Isaac McDougal." He responds.

"Well then, Isaac. You're lucky." Kyoko said.

He gives her a strange luck. "Oh yeah? How so?" He challenges her.

"Cuz I ain't gonna kill you. Yet." She smirked. "You'd better watch your back."

The Freezer alchemist glared at her, then frowns as the MPs arrive.

With a sigh, Kyoko glowed red and her clothes change to normal, then she leaned against a wall to watch what's going on.

…

One of the MPs handcuffed McDougal, and another talked to Al while Ed checks his jacket for any missed spots.

"You know, I helped out too." Kyoko muttered. An MP turns to her.

"Really? Well thank you as well! But you really shouldn't mess with guys like him. You could get hurt!" He said. He catches a glimpse of her eyes and gulps. "Erm, are you Ishvalen?"

Kyoko scowled. "Why does everyone ask that? Is it 'cause of my eyes?" She said with an irritated tone. "I ain't Ishvalen!"

The MP paled at her tone, so he left her alone. Kyoko watched as they take the rogue state alchemist away with a frown. After a moment, she looked back at Ed and Al.

"Eh…" She mutterd, looking back at the MPs and. "I still need to punch the guy for wasting food."

She started to follow them, and just as she walked up behind them McDougal fell down into a puddle. "Huh?" Kyoko blinked. "Aw, CRAP!" A burst of steam fills the area, scalding Kyoko. "OW, SON OF A FUCK!" She yelled in anger and pain. Then something shoved her, causing her to smack her forehead on a wall. She jerked back for a moment, swaying slightly, then she sunk down to her knees. Her forehead started to feel wet and warm and pretty painful.

Ed and Al turned towards the noise. "A steam attack!?" Ed gasped as he and Al stepped forwards.

Kyoko gritted her teeth in agitation, then red light covers her. The light the broke away, almost like it was shattered glass. The gash that had opened up on her forehead when she fell healed, and her irritated skin healed as well. "That didn't feel good." She muttered as she shakily pushed herself up to sit against the wall. Her head was spinning from the impact, though it didn't hurt as much anymore.

Ed and Al stared at the scene. "She healed herself?" Ed thought as he and Al walk over to her.

"Are you alright?" Al asked as he pulled her up off the ground.

"Yeah, 'm fine." Kyoko muttered as she blinks a few times, trying to stand up now. She tottered, then skipped a bit to try and keep balance.

"Yeah, right. You were just in the middle of a steam blast! And your forehead has blood on it. No wound though, and everyone around you seems to be fine… Well, not bleeding." Ed pointed out. "That's pretty damn suspicious."

Kyoko steadied herself and stares at Ed. "'m fine." She repeats dully.

"Uh huh..." Ed clapped his hands and crouched down. He pressed his hands on a pair of broken handcuffs, then after a flash of blue alchemical light they were fixed. He picked them up then stood up, turning to Kyoko. Her eyes had a dizzy look in them, and she was distracted by her lack of balance.

"Hmm. And now we can get some answers out of you without a big struggle." He said as he put the handcuffs around her wrists.

"Brother!" Alphonse scolded. "You can't do that! And she's hurt too!"

"I ain't hurt! 've had worse, too!" She protested as she looked at the cuffs. "'m not goin' to jail, am I…?"

"No, you aren't going to jail." Ed said, feeling the need to explain to the disoriented girl. "That's just so that you can't pull a lance out of nowhere and run away."

A lopsided grin slides onto Kyoko's face. "I can still use magic, dumbass." She laughs. "I jus' need my soul gem… Where izzit, anyways? Oh, it's in my pocket… Kyubey is an asshole, you know?"

"Did you get brain damage?" Ed muttered. He sighed and glanced over his shoulder. "Whatever. Let's just go."

* * *

"Fullmetal, you do know that this isn't McDougal right?" Mustang smirked as he looked at Kyoko, who was currently lying on a couch trying to rest.

"Of course I know that." Ed scowled. "Remember last year when I told you about a strange girl?"

Mustang nodded. He rests his elbow on his desk with his chin resting on his fist.

"Well this is her." Ed finished.

Mustang looked at Kyoko with a blank stare, then he looked back at Ed. "Really? She doesn't look like anything special. She hasn't even opened her eyes since you brought her here." He commented, still smirking.

Al shifted a bit. "Um, Sir… Before we came here she had been in the range of one of Isaac's attacks." Al told him, thinking back to the event. "And she hit her head on the wall. She healed the wound almost instantly, and it looked like there was absolutely no alchemy involved. She was just covered in red light, and then all her injuries vanished."

The Flame Alchemist raised his eyebrows. "She could have had a transmutation circle somewhere." He reasoned. Then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he thought harder about it. " But medical alchemy is extremely difficult and only those who have studied immensely can accomplish it without complications."

"That's why I said she's strange." Ed reminded him. "She has a strange stone as well. And I don't think it's a Philosopher's Stone, either. It's definitely different from what we're used to."

Mustang thought about it for a moment, then frowned. "Of course, based on her behavior and your description, she didn't heal completely." He notes. "This girl, what did you say her name was?"

"Kyoko Sakura." Ed answered lazily.

"Kyoko Sakura… Sakura... I've heard that name before, but I can't remember where." Mustang mused as he looked at the redhead. "Anyway, you said she has a strange stone? Do you know where it is?"

Ed nods and gets up. He walks over to where Kyoko was resting and he stopped. She looked a lot different when she was sleeping. Calm and quiet. He gulped and crouched down next to her.

He looked at the pockets on her jacket, and he notices that one of them had a roundish bulge. It glowed a soft red through the fabric, so he decided that it was the soul gem. He swiftly reaches into her pocket and gently pulls the crimson gem out, careful not to wake her. "Almost done..." He thought as he looked at the little gem. Then Kyoko shifted and mumbled something, causing Ed to jump back in surprise. After a few moments, she stopped moving and resumed her nap. Ed let out a sigh of relief, then he stood up straight.

"This is it." Ed said as he walked over to Mustang's desk. He practically dropped it onto the desk, and though they didn't notice, Kyoko's peaceful expression changed into a deep frown as it hit the desk's surface.

Mustang stared at it with curiosity, then he picks it up to get a better look at it. "Well, it's nothing I've ever seen." He concluded after a while of observation. Something about the gem was special though, like it was something living. Gave him the creeps.

"Do you know what it is?" Mustang asked, looking at Ed.

"I, uh… I think she referred to it as a soul gem." Ed said after pausing to think.

Mustang glanced back at the soul gem again with increased interest. "I wonder why it's called that…" He muttered.

A few moments passed, then Al joined the discussion, bringing up different possibilities of what it could be and how she called it magic…

…

They all dismissed that immediately.

"Well I think-…" Mustang started, but then the sound of light metal clinking drew his attention.

Kyoko was sitting up and glaring at Roy, Ed, and Alphonse. Her gaze was primarily focused on her soul gem, which was in Mustang's hands. "What the hell are you doing!?" She snarled.

* * *

**How was that? Didja like it? Make sure to review!**


	3. Kyoko's screwed up day

**Warning: There might be some content offensive to some people in here. Of course, when Kyoko is involved odds are something is going to be offensive :P**

* * *

"What the hell are you doing!?" Kyoko snarled, sitting up. She pulled her hands away from each other a few times, making her handcuffs clink. "Why am I in handcuffs, and where am I!?"

She made a move to stand up, but she was still dizzy and disoriented, so she just flopped back down onto the couch with a soft thump. She shot a death glare at everyone in the room, though she didn't notice one of them.

"You're in handcuffs because you're dangerous and right now we're in central command. This is Mustang's temporary office." Ed answered. "Now settle down and shut up."

That caused Kyoko to scowl. "Don't talk to me like I'm a little kid. And who the hell is Mustang?"

"That would be me." Roy responded, putting down the scarlet soul gem. "I am Colonel Roy Mustang and you are here so that we can ask you a few questions. If you cooperate this should go by quickly and you can leave as soon as it's over."

Kyoko's gaze moved to him, and she studied him carefully. She noticed that he tensed up slightly when he noticed her eye color. "Again with the questioning? What's with you people!? The amount of questions you want is unnatural!" She huffed after a moment. "No way. I ain't gonna tell you anything." She looked down at her handcuffs and she pulled her wrists apart a few times again, making the chain clink some more.

Ed frowned and leaned his back on the desk. "You don't have a choice." He told her.

Kyoko stuck her tongue out at him. "I can just not talk." She said.

"And we can arrest you for resistance." Ed retorted.

"What? No you can't!"

"Yes I can!"

"Fullmetal, you can't do that."  
"What!? Yes I can! I've done it before!"

"You did what!?"

"Brother, why did you arrest someone!?"  
"They called me short. My reason was valid."

Soon, everyone was arguing. Except for Kyoko. She had broken the handcuffs and was now eating a chocolate bar with a look of slight content in her eyes.

"You guys are a bunch o' dumbasses." She insulted lazily as she sits up. "Do ya fight like this regularly?"

"Don't group me with them…" Alphonse said quietly, a bit upset that she put them in the same category as his short-tempered brother and his taunting superior.

"No, only when Fullmeta- Hey!" Mustang exclaimed as he notices that Kyoko was free. "How did you get those handcuffs off? And where did you get a candy bar from?"

Kyoko shrugged. "Magic. Ya know, I honestly have no idea why you thought that handcuffs would stop me from bein' awesome."

"Being awesome…?" Edward echoed.

"That's how I ended my sentence. Got a problem with that?" She snapped as she stood up to stretch. She quickly grew irritated and impatient as she strolled over to the desk.

"Alright, can I have my soul gem now?" Kyoko asked with a fake smile.

Mustang blinked then frowned. "Stand back or I'll use force to make you cooperate." He told her.

"Oh, yeah? How?" Kyoko sneered as she put her palms on the table, leaning forwards slightly.

Mustang smirked. "You're in a room filled with experienced alchemists and Hawkeye." He said, staring right at the scarlet eyed girl.

"Hawkeye? Who's that?"

She then froze as she felt something press into the back of her head. Kyoko gulped and slowly put her hands in the air.

"Please step away from the Colonel." A stern, formal voice behind her said.

Kyoko did as she was told and backed away, then she scowled.

"Isn't this a bit extreme? I'm just a kid." Kyoko grumbled.

"A kid that can make lances out of nothing." Ed pointed out.

Kyoko muttered some very rude things under her breath as she was held at gunpoint, and she made her way back to the couch. They didn't make the same mistake of leaving her alone and Hawkeye keeps a gun pointed at Kyoko to make her stay still.

With a frustrated sigh, Kyoko crossed her arms and flopped down onto the couch. "Is this even legal?" She muttered. "You're really takin' this overboard, ya know…"

"We'll do whatever is necessary." Mustang shrugged before looking at the redhead with a smug smile. "So if you just answer us a few things we'll let you go. Fair?"

"Not fucking fair…" Kyoko grumbled. "But what-fucking-ever. Ask away."

Mustang smirked. "First, what is your name?"

"…Why the hell are you asking about my name?"

"It helps with identity identification."

"Sounds like bullshit but… I'm Kyoko Sakura. What's _your_ name?"

"You already know my name." Mustang deadpanned.

"Lighten up, will ya?"

"Hmph. What is your age?"  
"Aw, that's rude. You can't ask a girl her age." Kyoko pouted.

"Answer the question." Ed growled.

"What did I just freaking' say? Lighten the hell up, oh my God…" Kyoko groans. "But I'm almost 15."

"Ethnicity and race?" Mustang asked next.

Kyoko frowns and crosses her arms. "And how is that relevant?" She asked, leaning back against the couch with a bored expression.

"Identity identification."

"Still sounds like bullshit to me… I'm Japanese." Kyoko muttered.

"Really? That's interesting…" Mustang muttered. "Your last name is Sakura… Are you from Kazamino, by any chance?"

"That's where I lived most of my life, yeah." Kyoko confirmed.

"I see… So are you here with your family?"

"Nope…" Kyoko murmured, her voice sour.

Alphonse looked at the Colonel. "Why are you asking her about this?" He asked, remembering that family was a sore spot for the stubborn redhead.

"I've said my reason twice." Mustang said.

Kyoko huffed and looks away from them. She stared at the ceiling, her gaze a mixture of negative emotions. Irritation, anger, depression, annoyed regret (that was mostly regret for getting herself into this mess though), and a few other things. A moment passed, and she looked back at Mustang.

"Are you going to start snoopin' 'round in my personal life now?" She growled, her voice stony.

"No. Now I'd like to ask you about this." Mustang replied as he picked up the soul gem. "What is this?"

"'S my soul gem." Kyoko answered blandly.

"Does it do anything?"

"I can make a fabulous dress out o' nowhere and a big-ass lance with it so that I can hunt down magical monsters called Witches." Kyoko said flatly, looking Mustang straight in the eye.

Mustang frowned and glared at her. "This is not a game." He reminded her.

"And I ain't playin'. That's what I use it for." Kyoko shrugged. Damn' square… I hate science-y jackasses like you that refuse the idea of anythin' that they aren't used to."

Ed smirked at the insult directed at Mustang, but the frowned when he realizes that it applied to him too.

"Well then. Fullmetal, I'm assigning you to watch her until you can find out more about this." Mustang said as he held up the soul gem.

"WHAT!?" Ed and Kyoko shouted at the same time.

"I ain't stayin' around him! He's as retarded as you are!" Kyoko protested.

"Al and I have things to do! We can't babysit a psychotic hobo for you!" Ed growled. He then glared at Kyoko. "And I am not retarded."

"Right. That would be an insult to retards to classify you with them." Kyoko shot back.

Kyoko stood up, glancing at Hawkeye to make sure she wouldn't get shot, then she sighed. "Can I have my soul gem back, now? I need it." She asked. "I'm too tired to argue anymore, so don't make a big deal outta it, 'kay?"

"I suppose so…" Mustang said as he held up the crimson gem, eyeing the girl carefully.

Kyoko nodded and strode over to get it, then the door slammed open.

"Yo, Roy!" Hughes said cheerfully as he walks in.

Kyoko glances at the man, then groans and tones him out as she snatches her soul gem out of Mustang's hand.

"When I find the cookie ruining dickwad I'm going to gut him for getting me into this mess…" Kyoko though as she glareed at her reflection in the gem. She continued to think up some violent things before someone snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked around, then saw Hughes tapping on her shoulder.

"Uh…" She mumbled.

"She finally responded." Ed sweat dropped.

"Hiya!" Hughes greeted her. "You okay? You look pretty mad."

Kyoko nodded slowly. "Yeah… I've gotta tag around with those two," She pointed at Ed and Al. "Instead of doin' what I want, so I'm pretty ticked off…"

"Oh, so you're with them! Well I'm Maes Hughes! What's your name…?" He said with a peppy tone.

Kyoko sighed. He was talking very fast and seemed pretty cheerful, so she didn't know how to interact with this kind of person. She was used to conversing with jerks. "I'm Kyoko Sakura." She introduced herself. For some reason she didn't want to be rude to this guy. She guessed that it was because he didn't do anything to make her _want_ to be mean.

"Well it's nice to meet you!" Hughes grinned. He looked at the Elric brothers, then back at Kyoko. "It's to my knowledge that you three don't have a place to stay!" His glasses gain a white glare that blocked out his eyes. He then pulled out a picture of something and showed it to the three teens, eliciting a momentary surprised reaction from them.

"This is my wife Gracia and my daughter Elicia! We'd love to have you over!" Hughes smiled as he wiggled in excitement over his family.

* * *

A cute little girl stands in the open doorway of an apartment, staring at Ed and Al with big green eyes. Kyoko smiled as she pointed at Al, claiming him to be the big brother, then at Ed, calling him the little brother. She wasn't wrong, the blonde squirt was pretty short, and Ed's reaction was funny to watch. Kyoko smirked as he rages at the little girl, causing Al to pick him up to follow everyone inside.

"Yo, idiot. Calm your tits, 'kay?" Kyoko said as she patted his back. "She's just a kid. Kids say whatever comes into their mind."

Ed stopped squirming and glared at her. "Calm my _what_?" He said slowly, narrowing his eyes.

"Tits. Calm 'em. You're actin' like you're on hour period or somethin', and since you are a dude you should probably cut it out. Kyoko shrugged. Ed flushed slightly at her vulgar comparison, and was a bit thankful that the family inside the apartment weren't listening to them. Al stays quiet, and if he had a body he'd probably be blushing as well.

…

"Oh, wow!" Kyoko gasped as she looks at the wide assortment of food on the table. "That's a lot of food!"

Ed had a similar reaction.

"Gracia is the best cook in the world, and she made lots so make sure to eat up!" Hughes smiled.

"Will do!" Kyoko grinned, and without another word Kyoko dug in. She made sure to use at least some manners since she wasn't eating alone like she was used to, but that didn't stop her from completely filling her plate with food. All around her was toned out because all that mattered in her world was that she got to eat.

Ed and Al stared at her.

"Wow, Brother. She eats more than you do." Al said quietly, astonished by the sheer amount of food on her plate and her speed of eating.

"Uh… Kyoko?" Hughes said. "You might wanna slow down there. Wouldn't want you to choke or anything."

The redhead looked at him. "Oh… Um." She said awkwardly. "Yeah…" She slowed down and looks around. Her gaze lands on Alphonse.

"Why aren'tcha eating?" She asked, tilting her head in questioning.

"Uh… I'm not hungry." Al said quickly.

She frowned and pointed her fork at him. "That's no excuse. You should eat whenever food is given to you because there's no telling when your next meal will be." She told him, her tone rigid.

Ed glared at her. "Cut it out." He said in defense for his brother. "If Al doesn't want to eat he doesn't have to."

"Was I talking to you?" Kyoko snapped, focusing her anger on him now.

"Guys, quit it." Al told them quietly. "You're being rude."

Ed frowned and went back to eating, and Kyoko scowled and did the same, muttering something in a different language.

…

After dinner, Kyoko retired to the couch. Ed and Al occupied the guest beds and she wasn't going to sleep with them. That'd be weird.

Rolling onto her back, she stared at the ceiling with her soul gem in her hands. It glowed softly, but it wasn't the kind of glow for a Witch so she did nothing about it. Instead she just thought about her situation. At least she could get some free food out of it though…

With a tired and heavy sigh, Kyoko went to sleep.

* * *

**Didja like it? I hope you did. I'm having some pretty bad writers block, so sorry 'bout that.**


	4. Kyoko's even more screwed up day

**Be warned of some ****strong ****language. Heheh. Kyoko's got a sailor's mouth :3**

* * *

"Well then." Kyoko said as she twirled her lance into an offensive position. "That wasn't very nice."

"Where the hell did you get that from!?" Ed demanded, stepping back a bit. His eyes traveled to the red gem on her chest, then he glared at her. "And that gem! It definitely looks like what I'm looking for!"

The redhead smirked, tapping the pole of her lance on the ground. "Magic." She grinned as she twirled her lance to the side again, landing the tip on the ground.

Ed looked at the ground around her and then at the lance. No signs of any transmutations, but what else could it be!? "Magic doesn't exist! Quit lying dumbass!" Ed growled. "You're using a Philosopher's Stone, aren't you!?"

Kyoko sighed. "Silly little," She stepped to the side to dodge a punch. "Alchemist. Ya ain't very open minded, are ya? Also…" She swung the pole of her lance at him. Kyoko had decided that she didn't really want to hurt either of the boys, so she wasn't going go and stab them or anything.

Ed dodges the pole with ease, but much to his surprise, it separated into segments.

"Look out!" Al warned his brother as he goes in to help, but red barriers rise out of the ground to stop him. "Ah! What is this…?"

Kyoko took a few stepped towards Ed, and on the last step she turns slightly and slings the whip of metal at him with striking speed.

"Wha- Agh!" The chains slam into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him into the wall.

The lance reconnected, and Kyoko smirked. "…Don't try to hit me." She finished as Ed tries to regain his breath, coughing heavily.

Ed looked up and quickly clapped his hands together then slammed his palms onto the ground. A stone hand shot out of the ground, trying to grab the threat in front of him. Kyoko gasped and leaped back to avoid the hand, but the sound of heavy clanking behind her came to her attention. She glanced back and paled as a pair of metal hands grabs her. Al had used alchemy to make a pathway over the red barriers.

"Hey! Lemme go!" She yelled as she tried to squirm away.

"We just wanted to ask you some questions!" Al said with an upset tone. "Why would you attack my brother!?"

Kyoko scowled. "Are you freaking blind!? He attacked me first!"

"You called me little." Ed coughed, standing up.

"That is a fuckong stupid reason to attack someone!" Kyoko snarled at him. She yanked herself away from Alphonse then dashed back to a safe distance. "And you have no business asking me about my things! And I'm pretty damn sure it ain't what you're looking for! In fact, I know it's not what you're looking for!" She looked around, looking for an escape route.

"How can you be so sure?" Ed argued. "We barely know anything about it and we need all the clues we can get! So just answer us this: Is that a Philosopher's Stone?"

Kyoko glowered at him and she stuck the tip of her lance into the ground. "No it's not a damn Philosopher's Stone. Is that some alchemy bullshit?" She growled. Her scarlet eyes glittered with annoyance. "Because this is definitely not alchemy."

"What? But it-"Ed starts. He stepped forwards, then stops as Kyoko put her hand on her hip and frowns at him.

There was a red flash, and Kyoko's spear vanished and her dress was replaced by her teal jacket, mini shorts, and brown boots. She sighed and stretched.

"So all ya did was chase me 'round for nothin'." Kyoko said as she turned around. "Here's something to keep in mind… Don't assume things 'cause when you assume you make an ass of you and me."

"Uh… Hey, wait!" Al called after Kyoko as she dashed away.

"Not again." Ed mumbled as he ran out of the alley to chase after the enigmatic girl, but when he looked around, she was nowhere to be seen.

No matter where they looked, they found no trace of her. And after a couple days of asking around the city and checking all the places people usually hide, they gave up.

* * *

_One year later..._

* * *

Kyoko was just minding her own business, enjoying a delicious cookie and watching some guy. Said guy was kinda weird. He had slightly stringy black hair tied up in a ponytail, and he was wearing a tattered looking cloak over a blue military uniform. And he was killing people with alchemy.

"Witch's Kiss or… Nah." She concluded after stepping closer to look at the guy as he froze someone.

The man looked at her, obviously confused by the little girl approaching him. "Get lost, kid." He growled.

"Nah man, I'm good." She said as she takes a bite of the cookie. "Hmm… Yeah, you look pretty normal. Or crazy. Yep, you're insane, ain'tcha?"

The man blinked. "Do you have a death wish or something?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

An MP ran closer to them, pointing his pistol at the man. "Hey, little girl! Get away from there right now!" He shouted.

Kyoko ignored his warning and shrugged, continuing to eat her cookie. She watched as the killer turned to the soldier, dodging bullets and pushing his hand forwards onto the MP's head. There was a gauntlet of some sort on his hand, and it had a transmutation circle on it. Another death.

Then the frosty freezy murderer man pressed his hand down on a puddle as more soldiers approached. Steamy freezy murderer man, it appears.

"Eh? WOAH!" Kyoko gasped as a huge burst of steam erupted from the puddle.

…

She looked down at her cookie… Her… cookie. It was all soggy and fell apart in her hand.

"!" Kyoko's eyes widened. "M-my cookie! It's wasted! That asshole made me waste food!" She roared as she looked around. "Motherfucker's gonna get gutted for this!"

Seething with rage, she dashed off in the general direction of where the steamy freezy cookie murderer man had run off to.

She transformed mid-run into her dress and she picked up more speed.

"Where'd he go…?" She mumbled after a while. She was now on top of a building, trying to get a higher view to spot the cookie killer. "Hmm… ah-ha!" She heard clanking and voices a few houses away, and she leapt towards the noise. "Yeah, that's definitely him…" Her lance materialized in her hands. She was entirely focused on the guy that killed her precious cookie, and not on the other two in the alley. Without a second thought, she hops down, landing with her lance pointed downwards.

The cookie killer noticed at the last second and jumps back, avoiding the lance. Shards of stone and rock fly through the air as her lance pierces the ground.

"MOTHERFUCKER! Stay still and let me kill you!" Kyoko roared as she landed neatly on the ground, pulling the lance up. She pointed it at him.

"Get away from there!" An echoey voice said behind her. "You're gonna get hurt- huh?"

Kyoko paid no attention to the people behind her and glared at the man in front.

"You're that kid from earlier… I've been attacked by two little kids today…" He muttered.

Kyoko frowns and slammed him into the side of the alley with the pole of her lance. "Quit callin' me a little kid." She growled, her eyebrows twitching in annoyance.

"AND DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!" Another, much louder, voice behind Kyoko yelled. She hadn't bothered to look behind her since she wanted to focus on her task, but she recognized that voice.

There was a clap, then sparks, then the man in front was surrounded by stone.

Kyoko quickly turned around to face some familiar alchemists. "No way. It's you guys!" She gasped as she looks at Ed and Al.

"Who're you…?" Ed said before he blinked in realization. "Wait… you're that girl we saw in east city! Kyoko, right? Why are _you_ here?" He remembered her struggle quite well and wasn't all that pleased to see her.

"Yep, it's me." She grinned. "Just chasin' down a cookie killer."

"Cookie killer?" Al echoed.

"Yeah. This retard thought it would be a good idea to fuck up my snack." Kyoko growled, pointing at the man. "So I've decided he should die."

"You're going to kill him over a cookie!?" Ed exclaims, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Must have been a pretty good cookie…" Al comments quietly.

"Hell yeah, it was an awesome cookie! _Was_." She said, putting her free hand on her hip. "And I'd kill him even if it was a bad cookie. Wasting food is the worst possible thing."

Ed and Al sweatdropped, then they turn their attention back towards the "cookie killer".

"You can't kill him though." Ed said as he crouches down over his jacket, which was on the ground. "It's up to the military to decide if he should die or not. And… How old are you? You shouldn't try to _kill_ people!"

Kyoko shrugged. "'re you in the military then? And it's rude to ask a girl her age." She said, tilting her head slightly. Her gaze travels to his right arm, which was shining in the light of streetlamps and the moon. Not a big deal to her, so she looked back at the guy.

"Yeah, I'm in the military." Ed grumbled as he fixed his jacket with alchemy. "And how is it rude?"

"Just is." Kyoko said. She turned her attention back to her cookie's murderer. "So. What's your name?"

"Why should I tell you?" He grunted. His face was kinda squished by the stone, so he sounded funny.

Kyoko grinmed evilly. "Because _I'm_ the one with the big-ass lance." She said, holding up her weapon.

"Mmfgh… Isaac McDougal." He responds.

"Well then, Isaac. You're lucky." Kyoko said.

He gives her a strange luck. "Oh yeah? How so?" He challenges her.

"Cuz I ain't gonna kill you. Yet." She smirked. "You'd better watch your back."

The Freezer alchemist glared at her, then frowns as the MPs arrive.

With a sigh, Kyoko glowed red and her clothes change to normal, then she leaned against a wall to watch what's going on.

…

One of the MPs handcuffed McDougal, and another talked to Al while Ed checks his jacket for any missed spots.

"You know, I helped out too." Kyoko muttered. An MP turns to her.

"Really? Well thank you as well! But you really shouldn't mess with guys like him. You could get hurt!" He said. He catches a glimpse of her eyes and gulps. "Erm, are you Ishvalen?"

Kyoko scowled. "Why does everyone ask that? Is it 'cause of my eyes?" She said with an irritated tone. "I ain't Ishvalen!"

The MP paled at her tone, so he left her alone. Kyoko watched as they take the rogue state alchemist away with a frown. After a moment, she looked back at Ed and Al.

"Eh…" She mutterd, looking back at the MPs and. "I still need to punch the guy for wasting food."

She started to follow them, and just as she walked up behind them McDougal fell down into a puddle. "Huh?" Kyoko blinked. "Aw, CRAP!" A burst of steam fills the area, scalding Kyoko. "OW, SON OF A FUCK!" She yelled in anger and pain. Then something shoved her, causing her to smack her forehead on a wall. She jerked back for a moment, swaying slightly, then she sunk down to her knees. Her forehead started to feel wet and warm and pretty painful.

Ed and Al turned towards the noise. "A steam attack!?" Ed gasped as he and Al stepped forwards.

Kyoko gritted her teeth in agitation, then red light covers her. The light the broke away, almost like it was shattered glass. The gash that had opened up on her forehead when she fell healed, and her irritated skin healed as well. "That didn't feel good." She muttered as she shakily pushed herself up to sit against the wall. Her head was spinning from the impact, though it didn't hurt as much anymore.

Ed and Al stared at the scene. "She healed herself?" Ed thought as he and Al walk over to her.

"Are you alright?" Al asked as he pulled her up off the ground.

"Yeah, 'm fine." Kyoko muttered as she blinks a few times, trying to stand up now. She tottered, then skipped a bit to try and keep balance.

"Yeah, right. You were just in the middle of a steam blast! And your forehead has blood on it. No wound though, and everyone around you seems to be fine… Well, not bleeding." Ed pointed out. "That's pretty damn suspicious."

Kyoko steadied herself and stares at Ed. "'m fine." She repeats dully.

"Uh huh..." Ed clapped his hands and crouched down. He pressed his hands on a pair of broken handcuffs, then after a flash of blue alchemical light they were fixed. He picked them up then stood up, turning to Kyoko. Her eyes had a dizzy look in them, and she was distracted by her lack of balance.

"Hmm. And now we can get some answers out of you without a big struggle." He said as he put the handcuffs around her wrists.

"Brother!" Alphonse scolded. "You can't do that! And she's hurt too!"

"I ain't hurt! 've had worse, too!" She protested as she looked at the cuffs. "'m not goin' to jail, am I…?"

"No, you aren't going to jail." Ed said, feeling the need to explain to the disoriented girl. "That's just so that you can't pull a lance out of nowhere and run away."

A lopsided grin slides onto Kyoko's face. "I can still use magic, dumbass." She laughs. "I jus' need my soul gem… Where izzit, anyways? Oh, it's in my pocket… Kyubey is an asshole, you know?"

"Did you get brain damage?" Ed muttered. He sighed and glanced over his shoulder. "Whatever. Let's just go."

* * *

"Fullmetal, you do know that this isn't McDougal right?" Mustang smirked as he looked at Kyoko, who was currently lying on a couch trying to rest.

"Of course I know that." Ed scowled. "Remember last year when I told you about a strange girl?"

Mustang nodded. He rests his elbow on his desk with his chin resting on his fist.

"Well this is her." Ed finished.

Mustang looked at Kyoko with a blank stare, then he looked back at Ed. "Really? She doesn't look like anything special. She hasn't even opened her eyes since you brought her here." He commented, still smirking.

Al shifted a bit. "Um, Sir… Before we came here she had been in the range of one of Isaac's attacks." Al told him, thinking back to the event. "And she hit her head on the wall. She healed the wound almost instantly, and it looked like there was absolutely no alchemy involved. She was just covered in red light, and then all her injuries vanished."

The Flame Alchemist raised his eyebrows. "She could have had a transmutation circle somewhere." He reasoned. Then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he thought harder about it. " But medical alchemy is extremely difficult and only those who have studied immensely can accomplish it without complications."

"That's why I said she's strange." Ed reminded him. "She has a strange stone as well. And I don't think it's a Philosopher's Stone, either. It's definitely different from what we're used to."

Mustang thought about it for a moment, then frowned. "Of course, based on her behavior and your description, she didn't heal completely." He notes. "This girl, what did you say her name was?"

"Kyoko Sakura." Ed answered lazily.

"Kyoko Sakura… Sakura... I've heard that name before, but I can't remember where." Mustang mused as he looked at the redhead. "Anyway, you said she has a strange stone? Do you know where it is?"

Ed nods and gets up. He walks over to where Kyoko was resting and he stopped. She looked a lot different when she was sleeping. Calm and quiet. He gulped and crouched down next to her.

He looked at the pockets on her jacket, and he notices that one of them had a roundish bulge. It glowed a soft red through the fabric, so he decided that it was the soul gem. He swiftly reaches into her pocket and gently pulls the crimson gem out, careful not to wake her. "Almost done..." He thought as he looked at the little gem. Then Kyoko shifted and mumbled something, causing Ed to jump back in surprise. After a few moments, she stopped moving and resumed her nap. Ed let out a sigh of relief, then he stood up straight.

"This is it." Ed said as he walked over to Mustang's desk. He practically dropped it onto the desk, and though they didn't notice, Kyoko's peaceful expression changed into a deep frown as it hit the desk's surface.

Mustang stared at it with curiosity, then he picks it up to get a better look at it. "Well, it's nothing I've ever seen." He concluded after a while of observation. Something about the gem was special though, like it was something living. Gave him the creeps.

"Do you know what it is?" Mustang asked, looking at Ed.

"I, uh… I think she referred to it as a soul gem." Ed said after pausing to think.

Mustang glanced back at the soul gem again with increased interest. "I wonder why it's called that…" He muttered.

A few moments passed, then Al joined the discussion, bringing up different possibilities of what it could be and how she called it magic…

…

They all dismissed that immediately.

"Well I think-…" Mustang started, but then the sound of light metal clinking drew his attention.

Kyoko was sitting up and glaring at Roy, Ed, and Alphonse. Her gaze was primarily focused on her soul gem, which was in Mustang's hands. "What the hell are you doing!?" She snarled.

* * *

**How was that? Didja like it? Make sure to review!**


	5. Trains and annoyance

**Yeah, ah, here ya go! Beware of swearing teenagers!**

* * *

Ed watched as the crimson-haired girl dropped to the ground, and he frowned. Cautiously crouching down next to her, he made sure she was still breathing. She was, so at least those wounds didn't kill her.

"She's such a hassle." He muttered angrily before looking up at Alphonse.

"Should we take her to a hospital?" Al asked as he moved to pick her up.

Ed nods. "Yeah. If she's falling over then odds are she didn't "heal" or whatever correctly."

As soon as Al tried to lift Kyoko up, she jolted and rolled to the side, and there was a bright red flash as she changed back into magic form.

"Whoever the hell is touching me will have their goddamn eyes gouged out." She growled weakly as she got up. Her head hurt like hell, but at least her chest was starting to feel better.

The suit of armor squeaked in surprise then shrugged back. "I think she's alright." Al told his older brother quietly.

Ed glared at Kyoko. "Good, you're up. What the hell is wrong with you!?" He snapped as he stalked forwards. She had no reason to threaten his brother, even if it was a hollow threat. They were trying to help, damn it!

"There ain't nothing wrong with me." Kyoko spat as she steadied herself. Her soul gem glowed softly with a dark light, drawing Ed's attention to her chest. Her cheeks turned pink as she noticed his stare, and she crossed her arms. "Hey! Quit staring jackass!"

"I- Huh?" Ed said as he looked away from her soul gem. "Why are you blushing?"

"Brother you were staring at her chest." Al pointed out after a moment.

An awkward moment passes. "What? Ah… shit, I wasn't doing that!" Ed shouted in realization. "I was looking at her… what's it called… her soul gem!"

"Yeah right! Keep your eyes to yourself, idiot." Kyoko steamed as her lance materialized in her hands. She used it for support, and her scowl turned into a grimace as she looked away. This was freaking awkward, and she was trying very hard not to stab the annoying alchemist.

"Wha- Where the hell do you keep getting that lance from?!" Ed exclaimed in frustration from the weapon randomly appearing again. "And I wasn't staring at your chest! I was looking at your damn soul gem! It's a different color."

Kyoko blinked, and she glanced down at her soul gem. He was right. It was dark and murky now, no doubt from the amount of magic she used to heal.

"Aw hell." She mumbled in annoyance as she pulled the grief seed from earlier out of a pocket in her dress. The spike of the black orb dug into the palm of her hand as she brought it to her soul gem. A smoky black cloud emerged from her soul gem and was absorbed by the grief seed. As soon as her soul gem was purified, her mood lightened.

"So, I told you before. It's magic." Kyoko told him, smirking at his anger as she stuffed the grief seed into her dress.

"Quit lying! Magic doesn't exist." Ed growled, his frustration increasing.

Al watched the two of them. He knew from experience that it'd be pointless to try to calm them down. Kyoko was clearly having fun making Ed angry and Ed was too riled up to be calm.

She snorted and put her free hand on her hip. "Of course a normalfag like you would say that." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Normalfag?" Ed questioned, narrowing his eyes. "You're just using some kind of freaky alchemy. It isn't _magic_."

She sighed and glanced around. "Not gonna even bother…" She mumbled as she looked at the trail of blood on the ground left by McDougal. "C'mon. I need to gut the as whole that stabbed me."  
Before Ed or Al could respond, she ran off.

"Follow the blood, find the baddie." Kyoko hummed as she ran through an alley. She heard footsteps behind her, so Ed and Al must have been following. Up ahead, she could hear some people talking.

She turned around another corner, then stopped. A bunch of military men were standing around a body that was covered by a sheet, and her gaze turned to a man with an eye patch.

"Holy crap. Ain't that the Fuhrer?" She mumbled as she inched backwards. She bumped into Al, who had just caught up, and she glanced back at him. She rubbed the back of her head and leaned against the wall.

"Looks like your "cookie killer" is dead." Ed said as he looked at the body.

"I noticed." She replied flatly. "Ugh, and I was really looking forwards to stabbing the bastard."

"You're very violent." Al observed as he looked at her.

She shrugged. "I have my reasons." She said as she crossed her arms. She looked back at Ed, who was now talking to the Fuhrer. A chilly breeze swept past, and she frowned as she remembered that her job wasn't done. She still had to stick with the brothers… She _could_ slip away or something, but then she would get in trouble with the military.

…

But if she stuck with them she could probably get free food and find better witch hunting territory! Maybe it'd play out just the way she wanted it to.

**Next Day**

Of course, she was traveling with an asshole at the moment. Kyoko sat in the train seat across from Ed and Al, scowling angrily. Ed had woken her up by shoving her off a couch again, and it left her in a sour mood.

"So…" Alphonse said a few hours later, trying to make a conversation. "You, um… said you made your lance with magic…"

She nodded. "Yep. Magic." She grumbled, not bothering to look at him.

"Er, how does it work?" Al asked. He didn't believe that magic was real, but maybe he could figure out what she was using through conversation.

She lazily looked at him, then out the window. She blew a lock of hair out of her face and frowned. "Soul gem makes magic. Magic makes lance. Kill witches, get grief seeds." Kyoko said, putting minimal effort into her explanation. "And grief seeds replenish magic."

"Uh…"

She looked back at him with a wide smirk. "What's the thing called? Equivalent exchange?" She said as she held her hand out, palm up. An egg shaped orb of light appeared in her palm, then it solidified into her soul gem. "How 'bout you tell me about yourselves, and I'll tell you about me."

Ed glared at her. "What do you mean by that?" He asked.

"Well for starters…" Kyoko said as she glanced around. She lowered her voice. "Your Human Transmutation sounds interesting. I wanna know about that considerin' it's illegal and fucked ya up pretty bad." The train passed through a tunnel, shrouding them in darkness. The scarlet soul gem glowed lightly, illuminating them in the shadows.

Ed's glare harshened, and his expression went stony and cold. In the red light, Kyoko noticed faint sadness on his face, hidden under the anger but exposed by the magical glow. "No way. That isn't your business." Ed growled icily.

"That _is_ really personal." Al told her quietly, looking down. "I'd prefer not to talk about it…"

She shrugged and leaned back into her seat, rolling her soul gem around in her hands. "It is now. Since I'm stuck with ya, I'd like to at least know who I'm hangin' around." She said lazily. She looked back at Ed and sighed. "Sensitive subject, I see. Fine. Never mind. We can save that chat for later."

The golden-eyed alchemist looked out the window, turning his glare away from Kyoko. The train came out of the tunnel, and he squinted at the dim light.

"Okay… I'll start then." Kyoko said, satisfied that she had brought negative emotions out in Ed. Served him right for shoving her off a couch again. "I am a magical girl."

Al blinked his red orbs. "A what?" He said, amusement in his voice.

"Magical girl. We're more badass than we sound." She repeated as she balanced her soul gem on one finger. "Have you heard of people killing themselves, and then nobody knows why they did it? Or for some of those unexplained homicides. Or sometimes a person will just up and disappear."

She didn't notice, but Ed was watching her now.

"Witches are the cause. And it's my job to fight those Witches." Kyoko continued. She left out that she didn't care if anyone died while she was hunting. She figured that it wouldn't be very smart to say so at the moment.

Alphonse leaned closer, intrigued by what she was saying. "Can you show us one? And we? Are there more magical girls out there?" Al asked, skeptical about this. He didn't think any of what she was saying was true, but it was still interesting.

She chuckled. "You don't wanna see a Witch. They're super dangerous, and normalfags such as yourself can't see 'em. And yep, there are a ton of magical girls out in the world." She paused, then grinned. "I could show you Kyubey."

"Kyubey?" Ed said under his breath, glaring at Kyoko as she focused on an empty spot on the seat.

She frowned, then scowled, then grinned again. Then a small cat-like creature appeared.

"What the _hell_ is _that_!?" Ed exclaimed, staring at the strange creature.

Al stared at it. "Is this Kyubey? Aww he's cute!" The soul-bound suit of armor cooed. He always loved small animals.

"Hello." Kyubey said, looking at them. "I am Kyubey." It looked at Kyoko. "Our agreement." It reminded her.

"Lil' shit… I was gonna plant this somewhere." Kyoko grumbled as she tossed her grief seed to it. She bargained that the little space rat could have the grief seed she was going to use and that she'd get more grief seeds for it later. Instead of just letting familiars eat people, she'd sometimes plant a near hatching grief seed somewhere to get a witch right off the bat. Sure, the product grief seed would be a little less useable afterwards, but it was still a grief seed.

The red oval on Kyubey's back opened, and the grief seed fell into an empty space. The oval closed and Kyubey sat back down.

"That would be unwise considering how much difficulty you had with it earlier." Kyubey said, its ears twitching. Kyoko scowled when it brought that up. She was just unused to that type of witch.

"I'm serious, what the hell is that?" Ed asked, but he was ignored again.

"You can talk?" Al said to Kyubey. It nodded and flicked its tail back and forth.

"Telepathy, actually, but close enough." It informed him.

Kyoko smirked as she watched Al converse with the alien cat, asking it questions like it wasn't a magical ferret. After a while of listening to them talk, she looked over at Ed, who was glaring out the window with a stormy expression.

A moment passed, and she reached out and poked his cheek, earning a confused stare from the alchemist.

She grinned, and he scowled.

==-..~O~..-==

Ed thought about multiple different things as he stared out the window. Kyoko had brought up the human transmutation, so now he was in a bad mood. It didn't help that the magical cat thing was talking to his little brother like everything was normal. Magic, witches, grief seeds, soul gems… What the hell… It was all so unscientific and stupid and it was driving him crazy.

Wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't notice that Kyoko was reaching out towards him until she poked his cheek. He blinked and looked at her, confused by the non-violent gesture.

She grinned at him, so naturally he scowled.

"Don't do that." He muttered as he looked back out of the window.

She leaned forwards. "Do what?" She asked. "I didn't do anything."  
He glanced at her. "You poked me."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did. So don't do that."

She poked him again. "Whatcha gonna do about it?"

He batted her hand away and glared at her. The redhead chuckles and leans back into her seat, watching him with an amused expression.

"Hey, so I was thinkin' that this ain't gonna be any fun if we hate each other." Kyoko started as she sticks her hand into her pocket. "So… how 'bout we try to be nice to each other?"

"You're not making me hate you any less by annoying me." Ed responded flatly. He watched her pull a small red box out of her pocket. She pulled a strip of the cardboard off, then she opened the box. There was a small plastic packet inside. She opened it, then took something out. It was a thin stick of some cookie-like thing and it was coated in chocolate.

She pops one in her mouth, then she looks at him. "Want one?" Kyoko offered as she held the box out to him. She offered food to those she wanted to befriend or ally with, and while she didn't really want or need to be either of those things with Ed, she wanted this pointless glorified babysitting experience to be somewhat fun. Despite being a jerk, Kyoko didn't enjoy having people dislike her… That was hard to avoid though. She wouldn't deny that she was indeed an unlikeable person.

"What is it?" Ed asked, eyeing it warily.

"Pocky." She answers. "Milk chocolate coated cookie sticks."

"_Milk_ chocolate?" Ed said. He hadn't eaten that before, and wasn't about to if it tasted like milk.  
She sighed and gave him an unamused stare. "Right. You hate milk, dontcha? It doesn't taste like milk at all, so don't worry your little panties about that."

"LITTLE!?" Ed exclaimed, standing up. "AND I DON'T WEAR _PANTIES_!" His yelling caused a few people to turn around in their seats to stare at him, confused and a bit weirded out by his outburst.

"Yo, hey, calm the hell down. You take things too seriously." She groaned as she leaned back, glaring up at him with annoyance. "D'you want one or not?"

He scowled angrily and sat down. Glaring at the stick of Pocky, he let out a huff and snatched the treat out of her hand. He stared at it, then at her.

"You gonna eat it or study it?" Kyoko asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Better not taste like milk." He growled before taking a bite out of it. The Pocky didn't taste all that bad, but the chocolate was a little sweet for him. Ed shrugged and ate the rest of it. Looking back at Kyoko, he noticed her satisfied smirk. "What? Did you do something to it?"

The redhead shrugged and ate another piece of Pocky. "Nope. I was just thinkin' how much of a weirdo you are." She said nonchalantly.

"You're the weirdo." Ed grumbled before looking at Al to see how his conversation with Kyubey was going.

"So only a few people can make wishes?" Al asked Kyubey, wilting slightly. Armor can wilt, yes.

"Right." Kyubey said. It was withholding a large amount of information, as it would be unwise for it to share all this information with someone who couldn't even become magical. "You have a small amount of magical potential, but it isn't nearly enough for a wish."

"A wish?" Ed said to it, narrowing his eyes. "What're y-"

"I've spent enough time here." Kyubey interrupted him as it stood up. "I have other things to attend to." Its puffy white tail flicked from side to side as it hopped off the train seat.

"Hey, wait!" Ed growled as he reached for Kyubey, but it walked behind another seat and vanished. "What the hell?" He was now horribly confused. Humph. That didn't prove anything though. Magic did not exist and that was that. The thing was just a chimera or something, and all that Kyoko was using was some weird alchemy.

Kyoko sighed and swung her feet onto the hard, uncomfortable seat. The quiet noises of the train wheels rolling against the track and the engine far off worked her into a half asleep, trance-like state. Her eyes closed and she quickly fell asleep.

Quite some time later, the next day actually, something woke her up. Thankfully, she was not shoved off the seat but rather gently nudged until she awoke. Very preferable to the alternative.

"Whaa… mmfgh, goway." Kyoko muttered unintelligibly as she rolled to face the back of the seat.

"We're here. C'mon, we have to get off the train now." The echoey voice told her. She recognized it as Al, and she mumbled something under her breath.

"Humph. We should just leave her. Maybe we could tell Colonel Bastard she ran away." A grumpy voice said.

Kyoko sat up and turned to glare at the golden-eyed alchemist. "Well fuck you too." She said sleepily, scowling at him. "It takes more than two seconds to wake up, jackass."

She then glanced at Al, showing a smile instead of a scowl. "Hey, thanks for waking me up like a normal person."

The friendly suit of armor nodded, and if he could he would have returned the smile. "You're welcome." He said. "But we really do need to go."  
"Oh, right, right." Kyoko said as she hopped off the bench, stretching for a moment. Her soul gem, which was lying on the seat, was picked up and stuffed in her jacket. "Alrighty then, I'm ready."

Ed rolled his eyes and stepped into the aisle.

…

They wandered around Liore for a while before Kyoko started to bug the boys about being hungry.

"I haven't eaten at all today and I haven't stocked up on snacks recently!" She groaned, tugging Ed's jacket. She had tried to sneak off to go raid a store earlier, but Al noticed and grabbed her before she could get away. She had tried to use magic, but somehow the crafty little blonde brat snatched her soul gem out of her hands. She was fast and had good reflexes due to countless witch fights, but Ed was _really_ freaking fast for some…

Honestly, Kyoko had no idea how the two of them got her into such a vulnerable state. She was considering kicking Ed in you-know-where and getting her soul gem back, but it would draw too much attention and Al might grab her again… Perhaps relying on magic to get her out of those situations wasn't such a good thing…

"We'll get food soon. Quit whining." Ed scowled as he looked at Kyoko's soul gem. He hadn't seen it quite up so close before. He had been wary of the strange gem, but since the subject of, *snort*, _magic_ had been brought to his attention, he had a new curiosity. He held it in his flesh hand, and even through his glove he felt a strange, soft warmth emanating from the scarlet gem. It was almost like it was alive... It was creeping him out, actually, so he put it in a pocket on his pants.

She scowled. "I'm hungry right now!" She griped. "You took my soul gem and you took my freedom! I ain't gonna letcha take my food rights away!"  
Ed groaned and looked back at her. "Fine. We'll go look for somewhere to eat at." He told her, a look of severe annoyance etched into his face.

Kyoko responded with a small woo-hoo of joy, and her expression lightened. "Then let's go!" She said as she picked up the pace, forcing the brothers to chase after her.

* * *

**Everything shall be explained with time.**


	6. Another minor annoyance

**Beware of swearing teens as always.**

* * *

Kyoko sighed in content as she finished eating, pushing the plate away so that she had space to lean on. She rested her arms on the counter top, then looked at Ed. "You eat so damn slow." She said with a bored tone.

"You eat too damn fast." Ed retorted, cutting his steak with a knife.

She glared at him for the rest of the time that he ate, but she also listened to the radio. It was some religious crap, and it brought a scowl to her face. Letoism? A load of bull, that's what it was. Her dad's religion had been much better...

The owner, shopkeeper, whatever of the store, Kyoko didn't know or care, looked at them.

"So what are you guys? Are you like street performers or something?" He asked as he put down a glass that he was cleaning.

Ed promptly spit out his drink with an unamused expression. He put the glass down and looked at the man. "Seriously? Do we look like street performers to you?"

"Well yeah, that's why I asked." The man replied, unaffected by Ed's less-than-polite response.

Ed frowned and put his fork down, then he hopped out of his seat. "Let's go guys." He grumbled.

Kyoko's glare focused on him yet again, but he noticed it this time.

"What?" Ed asked, staring back at her.

"Finish your food." She said, pointing at the remaining morsels on the plate.

He glanced back at the plate for a second, then back at her. "No. We're leaving." He told her. "And it's-"

Kyoko slammed her fist onto the table. "Finish your damn food!" She told him angrily, standing up. She would give him one more chance to finish his goddamn meal before shit would hit the fan.

Ed blinked, confused by her sudden aggressiveness. He brushed her off, but when he scoffed and handed the plate to the shopkeeper Kyoko lunged at him.

"What the hell!?"

"Brother! Kyoko!"

"Hey, watch it!"

"Stupid midget! I told you not to waste food!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?"

A quarrel broke out, and it ended with Al picking the irate Magical Girl up by the back of her jacket and holding her away from Ed before they killed each other. Ed was still fuming from her attacking without warning and calling him little, and Kyoko was furious at him for wasting perfectly good food.

"Al, put me down so I can tear his stupid head off!" The angered redhead shrilled as she struggled around, trying to free herself.

"Not until you calm down." Alphonse told her as he carried her away from Ed. He looked nervously at the small crowd that had gathered around, then he looked back at Kyoko. She was finished struggling now and had her arms crossed, giving Ed the best death stare she could muster up. Al looked over at his older brother. Ed was sitting on the ground, returning the glare back at Kyoko.

Kyoko took note of Al's slight distraction, and she jerked free of his grasp. She was detected much faster than she thought that she would be however, and Al grabbed her again before she could even hit the ground.

"Damn it!" Kyoko yelled as she thrashed around with renewed annoyance, spitting out constant strings of profanity. "Put me DOWN!"

The shopkeeper stared at the three of them with a perplexed and slightly irritated expression. "Hey, look you guys are driving away customers so..."

Al turned to him to apologize, but Kyoko was still kicking and squirming. Her foot connected with the radio, causing it to crash to the ground.

"Hey! Why'd you have to go and do that!?" The shopkeeper complained, leaning over the counter top to look at his ruined radio.

Kyoko smirked. "Hey, at least that Letoism bullsh-t has finally shut up." She said with satisfaction, momentarily forgetting about her anger.

A lot of dirty looks were sent her way, but before anyone could yell at her Al spoke up. "I'm sorry that she did that! Here, I'll fix it."

Kyoko was put down, Al separating her from Ed by standing between them, and he took a piece of chalk out of his loincloth. Ed looked around Al to smirk at Kyoko. She scowled at him.

"How're you going to do that? It's smashed to hell." The shopkeeper said, looking at him.

Ed looked at the shopkeeper and grinned. "Watch and learn gramps."

After a moment, Al finished drawing the transmutation circle. He stood up and held his hands over the circle. "Okay, here it goes!" He said as the circle activated, emitting beams of blue light. There was a small burst of wind and dust, and when it cleared the radio was repaired.

"See? How's that?" Ed said, pointing at the radio with small sparkles around his head.

"Wow, amazing!" The shopkeeper exclaimed before looking at Ed. "It's like you've been touched by the Sun God, just like Father Cornello!"

"Touched by who now?" Ed said, giving the man a blank stare.

Kyoko stood up. "Ed, you'd better watch out. Their God wants to touch you." She said sarcastically.

Everyone stared at her.

"Just ignore her." Ed told them as he glanced at Kyoko with a mildly amused look in his eyes, thinly masked by annoyance.

Kyoko raised an eyebrow as more dirty looks were sent her way, so she scowled and turned away. "This is stupid. In fact, you're all stupid and I ain't happy about being in this retard religious town one little bit."

The people gathered around had many irritated looks, many muttering words of dislike towards Kyoko, but they all ended up ignoring the vulgar redhead as that was the best thing to do. A few still looked like they wanted to throttle the girl for her "blasphemy", but did nothing.

While Ed and Al started to talk to the people, Kyoko stalked away to have a little bit of alone time.

"I really wish I had my soul gem... Damn midget, snatching my stuff." She muttered angrily, kicking a rock across the street. "I should break his midget legs." She smirked at the idea. "Maybe then he'll-"

"Hey Kyoko! C'mon!" Ed called to her, pulling her attention away from the empty area.

"What?" She growled, looking back at him.

"Oh don't act all sour now." Ed told her, tired of her attitude. "We found where to go." Ed knew that he shouldn't be snippety about other's behavior and such, given his own wasn't too pleasant, but holy crap was this girl's personality terrible. _Why _did she have to make it her personal mission to piss everyone off!?

"Fine, whatever. Lead the way, shrimpy." Kyoko muttered, tilting her head to the side to avoid a punch. This would be a long day...

* * *

Kyoko waited around, her arms crossed as she stared at the crowd. Ed and Al were discussing something in front of her, and she really didn't give a damn about what it was so she focused on other things, such as the patterns of cobble in the sidewalk. Ah, how very interesting. Yeah, no. Bored with staring at the ground, she focused on Ed and Al.

"Let's see..." She thought as she tried to figure out which pocket her soul gem was stowed away in. Ed's stupid jacket kept her from seeing anything that could be in his pockets though, and she didn't want to risk anything. Back to random thoughts, then...

...

She blinked her scarlet eyes and looked around. They were in a church now, and up ahead a girl was praying. Kyoko frowned. Like praying did anything useful. She knew from experience that all praying did was waste time. Even if God did exist, he'd have to be a selfish douche that didn't care about humans. She had prayed so many times and it never did anything for her...

"Huh. So this is the almighty Leto." Ed said, looking at the girl in front of him.

She looked back at Ed and stood up. "Welcome. Are you interested in Letoism?" She said, her voice kind and soft.

Kyoko opened her mouth, but Ed turned around and covered her mouth to keep her from saying something rude. She bit his hand, then yelped when she bit metal.

"Ow, ow, ow!" She complained as she pulled away from him. She saw the cheeky brat smirk smugly, so her scowl inevitably returned.

Ed turned around to face the girl, confident that Kyoko'd shut up. "Nope, can't say I am. Not really the religious type." He answered.

The girl blinked, then closed her eyes. "Well I'm sorry to hear that. To know God is to know hope." She said with a small smile.

Kyoko snorted at that incredibly ironic sentence for her.

"If we believe in divine grace, and through Him all things are possible." She continued. "If you believed...," The girl looked up at Ed. "Then surely He would bless you and make you grow taller!"

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ed yelled angrily through clenched teeth while Al held him back.

"Easy, brother! She's just trying to help!" Al told him quickly so that he hopefully wouldn't try to punch the girl.

Kyoko laughed. "Haha, everyone agrees that you're a tiny little midget, Ed! Even complete strangers say it!" She snickered. Ed whirled around to face her, steam practically puffing off of him from anger, but he forced himself to calm down. He still twitched angrily though.

Ed sat down on a bench, resting his arms on the back of the seat. "What about bringing the dead back to life? Do you believe that's possible too?"

The girl smiled. "Yes." She answered. The hope in her voice was almost tangible.

Ed sighed and took a small notebook out of her pocket, and he held it up to read it. Kyoko stared blankly as he started reading elements and chemicals and those sorts of things out of it. The only things she really understood what he was saying was water, because the rest of it sounded way too complicated and weird for her.

"Huh?" The girl said, confused. Well at least she didn't understand either.

"Ed, the hell was all that?" Kyoko asked as she crossed her arms.

He closed the book and leaned forwards, looking down at the ground. "That list represents the complete chemical make-up of the human body for the average adult." He answered before looking at the girl. "It's been calculated to the last microgram, but still there's never been one reported case of successfully creating a human life. And you're telling me that something modern science can't do, you can do with prayer?"

The girl stepped forwards. "Lift thy voice to God, and the prayers of the faithful shall be answered!" She told him, her voice raising slightly.

"That's a huge load of crap." Kyoko said as she sat down, tired of standing up. She rested her head on her hands and she set her elbows on her knees, staring dully at Rose. "I lost count of how much I've prayed, but it didn't do sh-t."

"By the way, did I mention that all those ingredients I mentioned, down at the market a kid could buy every one of 'em for the spare change in his pocket." Ed said as he looked up at the ceiling. "As it turns out, humans are pretty cheap."

The girl looked at Kyoko and Ed. "No that's blasphemy! People are, we're all children of God! Created in His image!" She said, denying Ed's words. "And- and prayer can grant our wishes! God will help those that need it!"

Kyoko scoffed at that. "Your wishes? That ain't how it works." She said, glowering at her. "You'd have to give up a hell of a lot more than some prayers and a bit of your time for a wish to come true."

Soon after she said that however, she got bored with the conversation and zoned out. She stared at the girl, and contemplated why she was so naive. Then again, Kyoko herself had been that naive before, believing that God and all that could solve her problems and help people... Such a stupid thought.

Soon the conversation ended with Ed asking the girl to take him to see that Cornello dude. Kyoko honestly couldn't believe that the girl didn't notice his fake enthusiasm. She just agreed right away with no suspicions at all! Naive indeed, she was.

The redhead groaned as they walked down a dark stone hall. "How much freakin' longer d'we have to walk?" She complained.

"It isn't much farther." The man leading them said. "This way please. Father Cornello is a busy man, as you can imagine. But you're in luck. He decided to spare a moment for you."  
Kyoko's eyes narrowed. His tone had become a bit less kindly at the end of the sentence, and she poked Ed.

"What?" He snapped as he looked at her.

"Can I have my soul gem now?" She asked as she pulled her hand back. "I ain't gonna do anything dumb or run away, I promise. I jus' want it."

He blinked. "Yeah, fine..." He said as he dug around in his pockets. "But if you break your word I'm not going to give it back next time." He handed her the small scarlet gem, and she beamed.

"Thanks." She smirked as she took it back, feeling more at ease now that she could protect herself. This whole situation seemed really off, and she didn't like it. If this all turned out to be a waste of time... oh, heads would roll.

The man in front of them moved his arm up to his jacket, then turned to them with a gun. Two people held their stick things in front of Ed to stop him, and another kept an eye on Kyoko. Big mistake, because as it turns out, she was the most dangerous in the room.

As the man, Cray, it seemed his name was, talked while Kyoko waited for the best moment to transform.

She watched as Ed disarmed the men around him, then smirked. There it was. The best moment.

Her bright red flash of light lit up the room as she transformed, a scarlet glow cloaking her body as she changed to her magic form in a split second. Faster than any of them could see, the point of her lance was jabbed to Cray's chest as she threatened to spear him through. "Drop the gun, asshole." She said threateningly as she applied pressure ever so slightly to press the tip through the man's shirt.

Al punched Cray in the face while Kyoko had him distracted, and she smirked. "Nice." She commented as she whirled her lance around, settling it to the side. The gun clattered to the ground, landing at Rose's, that's what her name was apparently, feet. As one of the guys that had tried to hold Ed back attempted to run, Ed hurled one of the sticks at his head.

"Oh yeah! Strike!" He grinned as it hit the man in the back of the head, knocking him forwards. Kyoko clapped to fuel the moment.

"What's this commotion?" A voice said, drawing their attention. They looked up at a balcony in the room where a bald man stepped out of the shadows. "Ah, the Fullmetal Alchemist. Welcome to the home of our sacred order."

"Ah, Father Cornello!" Rose said as she looked up at her leader.

"I must apologize for my disciple's behavior. It would seem they've been misguided." He continued.  
"Buuuullllshhiiiiiiittttt!" Kyoko yelled out, putting her free hand on her hip. "I should come up there and tear your stupid liar face off for that!" Though, the men really weren't a match for them, but it was the thought that counted.

Ed and Al glanced at her, then back at Cornello.

"Now, now, there's no need for that!" Cornello said to the pissed off redhead. He went off track slightly. "Now didn't you come here to learn the ways of Leto?"

"Well there are a few things I'm curious about." Ed started, looking up at him. "Like how you've been using second rate alchemy to deceive your followers."

Cornello was still all smiles though, and didn't show any signs of what Ed wanted to know. "My dear boy, I don't know what you mean. What you're doubting I see is alchemy are the miracles of the Sun God Leto." He put his hands together, and bright red light and red alchemical electricity crackled around his hands. He lifted his hands up to make a small statuette. The red light was not unlike Kyoko's, but hers had none of the crackling energy that was used in alchemy. "Look again. Could mere alchemy create something from nothing in this way?"

Rose, of course, smiled and believed every single lie that Cornello spat out like a complete fool. Kyoko frowned at her.

"Ya know that's all complete b.s., right?" Kyoko muttered to Rose.

Rose looked at Kyoko, disdain showing in her eyes. "I'm not even going to respond to you." She huffed.

"Ah, but ya just did." Kyoko snickered.

"Yeah, that's what I didn't get at first." Ed said, put his hand on his head. "How can you preform transmutations that ignore the laws of equivalent exchange?"

"As I said! Because it isn't alchemy!" Cornello told him, putting the statuette on the rail.

"But then I started thinkin' about it." Ed continued, ignoring Cornello entirely. "If you'd somehow managed to obtain a certain object to amplify your alchemy, one that's said to make the impossible possible, that would explain everything."

"What?"

"I'm talking about the Philosopher's Stone." Ed said, narrowing his eyes.

Kyoko blinked, then snapped her fingers. "Oh! Hey, that's the thing ya kept talking about before, huh?" She exclaimed as she patted her chest, just above her soul gem. "The lil' red ball thing on Cornjello's ring?"

"Cornjello?" Cornello murmured at hearing her say his name wrong.

Ed nodded to Kyoko. "Yeah. You can probably guess why I got them mixed up."

She shrugged. "I dunno. That tiny rock ain't nearly as big or awesome looking as my soul gem." She grinned.

"Right, whatever." Ed sighed before looking back at Cornello. "Anyways, I've been looking for that."  
"The ring is just a ring." Cornello told Ed, adamant on sticking to his lies. "I am God's humble servant. It is from He alone that I derive my power!"

Kyoko scoffed. "Then take it off and throw it down here, _then_ do your miracles! If it's really just a ring, then you should be able to do your miracle crap without it!" She yelled up at him.

Ed started walking towards Cornello. "She has a point. Why don't you just give it to us? Save a lot of trouble, right?" He smirked.

"My, you really are quite the incorrigible heathens aren't you? Rose, dear?" Cornello said.

"Y-yes, Father?" Rose asked warily.

"That gun there besides you, pick it up." He commanded her.

"Um, o-okay..." Rose said as she bent down to pick it up.

Kyoko scowled, a common expression for her to have it seems. Was that bastard seriously going to tell Rose to...?

"Now, child, I want you to shoot the Fullmetal Alchemist."  
Kyoko bared her teeth in anger. Oh, that was a cheap move. "Alright, you fat old dickhead, I'm gonna come up there and stab this lance straight up your ass for being such a douche." She snarled as she stalked forwards. "_And_ for wasting so much of my time!"

Cornello looked at Kyoko. "You can't even get up here." He foolishly taunted her.

"Yeah? Watch me." She shot back as she jammed the butt of her lance into the ground. There was a crackle of scarlet magic, then she launched up onto the platform right next to the creep. Elegantly whipping her lance to her side, she

He stepped back in surprise. "What!? How did you-!?"  
She snickered and made a devilish grin. "Magic!" She replied in a sing-song voice as she pointed her lance at him.

"Kyoko, don't kill him!" Ed shouted in alarm as he started to run towards the balcony. There was no way for him to tell if she was just making empty threats or actually intended on spearing through the old bastard's gut. He wanted the Stone, but not enough to let someone kill for it.

"Stop!" Al called after her as he stepped forwards.

She looked over her shoulder at the boys. "Hey, I'm not gonna kill him. I might not even hurt the dude. Just gimme a minute. I'll make it fas-"

Cornello made a gun out of his cane, and he pointed it at her, then began to shoot.

"What the hell!?" Kyoko yelped as she hopped out of the way.

At the same time, Rose shot her gun in panic, hitting Al.

Kyoko heard Al yelp down below, but she was a little bit preoccupied with her current situation.

"Oh hell!" Kyoko yelped as she ducked and dodged a flurry of bullets. "Fuckfuckfuck_fuckfuck_!" Cornello pulled a lever as he continued shooting at her to release the chimera down below. A bullet clipped into her shoulder, eliciting a vulgar string of profanity from the redhead Magical Girl.

"That _really_ pisses me off!" Kyoko growled as a circular shield of scarlet barriers appeared in front of her, blocking the rest of the bullets. "Okay, asshole! I'm givin' ya three seconds to cut that the hell out before I decide to run ya through!"

He didn't stop though, and instead pulled a lever that released a chimera into the lower area to deal with Ed and Al.

"Okay, fine by me!" She smirked as she bolted forwards, orbs of scarlet magic bubbling up around her feet before bursting, giving her a sharp speed boost. She ducked underneath a spray of bullets and swung her the pole of her lance upwards, smashing the gun out of the man's hands.

"Wha-" Cornello gasped.

And then he was knocked over and pressed onto the ground. A vicious grin crept onto Kyoko's face as she dug the butt of her lance into the man's back, making him yell and squirm.

"Hand over the little rock now or I'll use the blade to hold ya down instead." Kyoko said cheerily, pressing it down harder. He attempted to use the Stone to escape her hold, but she stomped his hand down. "Uh-uh! You ain't doin' that. The longer I gotta stay here the more difficult this is gonna get, 'kay? Gimme the goddamn Stone so that I can go back to my life."

"Aghh! Okay, okay!" Cornello yelled, the metal pole painfully digging into his spine. "Just get- AUGH- get off of me!"

"Your ring. Gimme." Kyoko repeated. "D'you _want_ me to just kill you? Dead bodies are easier to loot than live ones."

A crimson alchemic crackle by her feet alerted her, and she jumped back to avoid a large stone spike jutting out of the ground. Her eyes narrowed and scarlet barriers wrapped around the stupid priest. He yelled in alarm and tried to break free, but was lifted up into the air by tendrils of red diamonds. As Kyoko stepped forwards to grab the Philosopher's Stone, the doors to the room slammed open. Glancing back, she swore and snatched the ring off of Cornello's hand, then she hopped off of the platform and down onto the ground below.

"What the _hell_ were you thinking!?" Ed yelled at her as he and Al ran over. Al was carrying Rose, who was trying to protest.

"Hey, you ungrateful d-" Kyoko snapped, but she was cut off by Cornello's angry yell.

"SHOOT THEM YOU IDIOTS!"

Before the spray of bullets could get them, Ed clapped his hands and threw up a quick shield of rock.

"I think we should run." Al suggested, trying to stop Rose from squirming too much.

"I agree with Al!" Kyoko said as she peeked out from behind the stone wall. She had to pull back to cover though because they started shooting again. With a scowl, she cracked her knuckles and created a large bubble of scarlet barriers around them for protection.

"I still don't get how you can do that." Ed frowned as Kyoko began to move, shifting their protective bubble of interlinking barriers with her movement.

The redhead smirked. "Magic, like I keep telling you." She chuckled. "Alright, midget, where to?"

"I'M NOT A MIDGET!" He fumed, refraining from attacking her. "Ugh, to that wall." He pointed to the brick wall to their far left.

"The wall?" Kyoko blinked. "...Oh, you'll alchemy that into a path right?"

Ed nodded in confirmation. "That's the plan." He said as she turned and began moving.

As they ran, bullets bounced off of the barriers around them. It freaked Kyoko out a little bit, but at the same time it was fine. When they reached the wall, a quick clap-and-slap created their exit. Kyoko's barriers fell away as they ran through the newly created door, giving them more space to run, and after a while of running, they came across a room that looked somewhat important.

"Hey, what's this room?" Ed asked Rose as they slowed down.

"It's where Father Cornello makes his broadcasts." Rose answered, pausing slightly.

"He won't be able to keep up his little group of followers without this," Kyoko held up the Philosopher's Stone. "So that room's gonna be pretty damn useless once everything falls apart."

Ed and Al looked at her, and at the Stone.

"You actually got it!?" They both exclaimed, Ed's eyes visibly widening. Kyoko nodded and grinned.  
"Yeah. Trade it for my freedom?" She suggested, observing the Stone. Yells from down the hallway alerted them and they had to stop their little chat.

"...Hang on, I wanna do something first." Ed said as he stepped into the recording room.

"Whatever! Just don't get yourself killed." Kyoko huffed as she glanced around, looking for an escape. "Then I'd have a real hell of a time getting back to my regular life."

"Wasn't planning on it." Ed retorted, looking at the room and deciding what he would set up and how. "Al, make sure she doesn't run away. And set up a speaker outside. I had an idea."

"Right." Al nodded, taking note of the impish grin on his older brother's face.  
"Aw, you don't trust me?" Kyoko said with mock innocence. "I'm hurt."

Ed rolled his eyes and turned around. "Yeah, whatever. Just don't get any bright ideas or I'll have to listen to Colonel Bastard's griping for an hour."

The scarlet Magical Girl smirked, twin fangs popping over her bottom lip. "Sure..." She said before Al gently nudged her along just as the voices down the hall began catching up.

* * *

**Now, I was going to make more, but I decided this was an appropriate place to cut off since I couldn't think of any way to start the next bit without making it super absolutely derpy. Plus, I figured you guys want this to come out faster, sooooo... I picked quality over quantity, and managed to make that the faster route! Yaaaayyyyy!**

**And I'm so so so sorry that this took so long! I can't promise it won't happen again, but I am going to try and keep on top of updating for the remainder of summer.**

**If you spotted any mistakes, tell me! There are certain parts that seem strange, but are intentional as well, so keep that in mind. Thanks for staying patient!**

**The next update should be... Sometime in November.**


	7. Kyubey dicks things up

It didn't take long for Ed to expose Cornello's schemes at all. Shortly after escaping the church, Al transmuted a speaker out of a large bell that they had "borrowed" from the bell tower and hooked it up to a microphone inside the broadcasting room. Not that she cared, but he had given what was basically his life story to Rose while he was creating the megaphone. Though it was interesting to learn what happened with his and Ed's human transmutation, especially after they had gotten all sensitive about it on the train, she didn't really care now. All that mattered to her at the moment was that once she forked over the stupid Philosopher's Stone, she'd be free to go back to her life... More or less. Ed should be quitting the military anyway, she was assuming, so what would it matter if she just slipped off to head back to Kazamino?

So now all she had to do was wait.

"What a vanilla fucking plan." Kyoko scoffed as she looked at the Philosopher's Stone she had nabbed, listening as Cornello spewed his plans for world domination or whatever to the entire city. Kyubey sat next to her, watching her turn the ring around in her hand. "It's a wonder how morons like him even function."

"It wasn't a very good plan." Al hummed, glancing back to where the redhead sat on the rooftop. "Hey, can I see the Philosopher's Stone...?"

Unsurprisingly, she just smirked and shook her head. Turning her scarlet gaze to him, she dropped the ring that held the Stone into her right hand, then held it up.

"Uh-uh. I ain't handing this thing over 'til Ed is out here and everything gets sorted out." She told him. Her palm turned up to face the sky, and she let the precious alchemical amplifier slide back down. "It'll be my ticket to freedom, y'see. The free food and stuff was real great and all, but I don't really _like _being babysat. Once you guys get your goal and have nothin' to do with the military, I'm just gonna go back to my life."

Al nodded slowly. "Okay... But," He paused as a thought occurred to him. "If you want to leave so badly, why don't you just go right now?"

"...Please don't, though." He added quickly.

Kyoko opened her mouth to speak, then frowned. "Er, well..." A full minute passed before she answered. "I would have to catch a train to get out of this desert hellhole, and it's real easy to catch a person while they're on a train goin' through the middle of nowhere... And... Eh... I guess I just don't feel like it right now. I'm tired, shut up." One of her usual glares came back, and she looked at Kyubey.

"I guess that makes sense...?" Alphonse didn't really know what to think about that. He took notice that the broadcast had cut off by now, so he put the megaphone down and turned to Rose. The young woman had a blank expression, but still looked as if she couldn't believe that Cornello was a fake after all.

Kyoko took note of his distraction, deciding now was best to talk to Kyubey. Though it was for no reason in particular, she found it just a tiny bit irritating that it was still entirely focused on the Philosopher's Stone in her hand.

"Hey, Kyuubs." She spoke up, though it was through telepathy. To everyone else, she just appeared to be staring _really_ hard at a random spot on the ground. That was the main reason for why she had waited until nobody was looking at her to speak to it. The Incubator blinked -a somewhat rare action to get from it- then looked up at her.

"Yes?" The odd bunny-cat asked.

"Why've you been staring at the Philosopher's Stone thing like that?" Honestly, it was kind of creeping her out. Maybe that was why it was irritating; because it was creepy.

Kyubey's tail flicked and it glanced away. "It's a very strong source of energy, and I was just observing it. Even an incomplete version like that one is quite powerful." It informed her.

"Incomplete?" The redhead blinked. "What-"

A large crash came from the room below the spot Kyoko was sitting on, followed by muffled yelling. Peering over the edge of the roof, Kyoko saw a microphone smash through a closed window, falling down to the ground below, then a large fist came after it. It appeared to be made of wood and stone, and now that the window had been completely destroyed, she could hear that the majority of the shouts were Ed's, and he was pissed off.

"The fuck...?" She murmured. "Hey, Al. I think-"

"I heard and saw that." Al quietly chuckled as he walked over to her. "Do you think Brother is having trouble?"

"Nah. The old fart doesn't have his magic rock anymore, so it ain't like he'll put up too much of a fight. Ed can handle it." She shrugged, waving her hand in a nonchalant manner. "Probably. I'mma laugh if he manages to fuck up somethin' as simple as catching a fat old bastard."

"I hope he doesn't beat him up. Cornello may be a bad man, but Brother can go a little overboard."

Kyoko glanced back down at the transmuted fist that was still jutting from the shattered window, the corners of her mouth twitching. "I can see that..."

Several more minutes passed, and she felt a furry paw brush against her right hand. Letting out an aggravated sigh, she looked back down at Kyubey. It was seriously starting to piss her off with how much it was interested in the Philosopher's Stone. So she yanked her hand away, holding the Philosopher's Stone out of reach.

"C'mon dude, cut that out." She told it, scowling. "You're acting weird. Kinda like a cat..."

"May I see it? I'd like to confirm something." Kyubey asked her, its bright red eyes focused on her closed fist.

"Again, no. I don't particularly trust you with my things." Kyoko responded. She looked back ahead, and down at the front doors to the church. A faint grin crossed her expression as she saw that Ed had finally come out, and with Cornello handcuffed behind him. Not in actual handcuffs, but what looked to be like a transmuted wooden block... thing. It was hard to tell from this distance. Now she was excited. Freedom to do whatever the hell she wanted was just within reach!

:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:

Edward let out a heavy sigh, scratching the back of his head as he walked out. He probably should have known that Cornello would have tried to run, but it wasn't all that difficult to get the man under control since he had no way to transmute.

"Hey, hurry up." He said, looking over his shoulder and back at the captive fraud.

Cornello grumbled a few not so kind words and glared bitterly at the short alchemist, just proving how much of a sore loser he was. Ed only smirked in satisfaction at that. All in all, he was having a good day. Finally, he and Al had a Philosopher's Stone! Well, kinda. Kyoko had it, but Ed had just the thing in mind for trading for it. He figured Kyoko would have something similar in mind, which would make things even easier. His smirk slowly spread into a grin. Al could be back to normal, he wouldn't have to put up with Kyoko's foul attitude anymore, and he would get to quit being a dog of the military.

"Maybe with this much good luck, I'll grow a bit too." He thought, subconsciously denying that there was anything wrong with his height despite his thoughts. It would just be icing on the cake if that did happen, though.

"Brother!" Al called, pulling Ed from his thoughts. He looked up to see Al running up to him, and Kyoko trailing behind. Rose didn't seem to be with them, which he didn't think much of.

"Hey Al." He greeted his brother warmly. "Everything went to plan, right?"

"Well, it wasn't much of a plan, but everything did work out." Al nodded, his armored body creaking quietly with the movement. He seemed pretty cheerful, which was good.

"And I got your rock thing." Kyoko piped up, holding out her hand to show him the precious item. She glanced behind Ed and at Cornello, a less than good natured smirk filling her expression. "Yep, things definitely worked out. You sure you wanna let him walk around freely though? Don't wanna let him get away, yeah?"

Edward straightened up, his grin becoming a cocky one. "I don't think even he's dumb enough to try that. So, what do you want in return for the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Hm, I think ya know what. How 'bout... you lemme just sneak away, and I'll give ya your Stone." She said smoothly. Her gaze flickered to something on the ground between them for some reason, though there appeared to be nothing there, but she quickly refocused back on him. "Is that fair?"

"It sounds good to me." Ed replied easily, extending his arm.

"Great." Kyoko grinned, holding out her hand as well to give him the Philosopher's Stone...

And then, something incredibly strange happened. Kyoko looked back at the ground, the same spot as before, then gasped. Ed looked as well, and saw the faintest outline of a off-line creature spring off the ground and at Kyoko's open palm. The image was lost with its movement, and Kyoko swore. The Philosopher's Stone was not in her hand anymore.

"_Kyubey!_" Kyoko shouted stiffly, surprised.

"What the hell just happened!?" Ed exclaimed, his golden eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. "Where did the Philosopher's Stone go!?"

He turned around, hoping she had just dropped it, and saw the golden ring and tiny crimson gem toss upwards through the air, then vanish about a foot off the ground.

"_What the fucking shit-_" Kyoko was picking up something up from where the Stone had seemed to disappear. "Why did you eat that!?"

"Uh, what just happened? Why is Kyoko shouting at air?" Al asked, extremely confused. He hadn't seen the Philosopher's Stone get snatched out of their hands, then... something.

"Kyubey fucking ate it." Kyoko seethed. "You asshole, I needed that!"

"Kyubey did what?" Ed blinked. "Wait... hang on, can we get it back!? Your stupid chimera thing can't have just _eaten_ it out of the blue like that!"

Kyoko was silent for a moment, leaving the dumbstruck Ed and Al to let it sink in. They were so close. _So_ close!

After a full minute passed, Kyoko released the invisible creature she had been holding, letting her arm drop to her side.

"Nope... Nope, nah, it's gone. Can't get that back. The shit Kyubey eats apparently can't come back up. Fuck, and I was so close to getting free, too..." Kyoko muttered angrily.

"...You're kidding, right?" Edward asked her, his good mood shattered into a million pieces.

Kyoko shook her head. "Dead serious. I really shoulda seen it coming... I knew the bastard was acting weird."

Ed stood completely still, Al remained silent, and Cornello stared at them in confusion.

"...DAMN IT!" Ed shouted after a moment.

"You okay?" Kyoko blinked, taking a step back.

"No, I'm not okay!" He replied viciously. "Do you have any idea how long Al and I have been searching for the Philosopher's Stone!?"

"A while...?"

"Three years! Almost four now! And we finally found one, but your magical bullshit fairy ate it!" Ed yelled angrily.

"Christ, calm the fuck down. It ain't my fault Kyubey enjoys fucking shit up." Kyoko said flatly, crossing her arms. "You should've been paying more attention."

"I can't even _see_ it! This is your fault!" The irate Alchemist exploded. He was pissed off, still confused, and didn't give a damn if it really was her fault or not.

"Please don't start arguing." Al spoke up timidly, stepping in between the two of them. "It's neither of your faults. I don't really get what happened... but fighting won't fix it."

"But-" Kyoko started, but Al looked at her.

"Kyoko..." He said, sounding a little upset.

Ed expected her to stubbornly continue ramping up the argument, but to his surprise, she almost immediately backed off. She shoved her hands in her pockets, murmured a quiet insult, then looked to the side. Ed was still plenty angry, but when Al turned to him, he felt that all melt away into more of a disappointed and guilty feeling.

"I think it'll be okay..."Al told his brother, voice quiet. "I mean... we know that the Philosopher's Stone is real after all now, right? We'll just have to get back to looking..."

Ed looked up at him, forcing a smile onto his face. "Yeah." Ed knocked his right fist against Al's chest plate, an affectionate, brotherly sign between them. "Yeah..." He let out a long sigh.

There was a shuffle behind them from Cornello. He had been widely forgotten by now, and was feeling a bit awkward with the situation. He literally had no idea what was going on.

And Rose was nowhere around, but nobody really cared. It felt like there was a heavy blanket of unpleasant emotions settled on the town, and for good reason too...

"Well... Does this mean I'm gonna have to stay with you even longer?" Kyoko asked the brothers.

Ed slowly turned around to glare at her.

"What the hell do you think?"

"Heheh... ugh..."

* * *

Kyubey walked down a dusty cobblestone road, its paws lightly thumping against the stone. Though nobody else could see its actual body, it still cast a shadow along the side of the road.

It figured that "confiscating" the Philosopher's Stone would elicit some violent reaction from Edward and Kyoko, and it did upset Alphonse. That didn't matter in the slightest, however. Emotions were silly, pointless things, and they would probably get over it. There was no way the Incubator could just leave such a powerful, albeit flawed substance in their hands anyway. And the Incubators would put it to _much_ better use.

That conglomeration of emotion was far more potent than any Witch's birth.

························································································

**So... Hi... That took a bit longer than I wanted it to. I'm so sorry.**

**Buuut, I've been able to think a lot more about what I want to do with this story, and where I want things to go! And I was thinking... it'll be better without a lot of romance in it. I've decided there's too much romance fanfics and not enough action and friendship, or just basic fluff, so it'll have more of that.**

**This chapter didn't turn out exactly as I wanted it to, and it's kinda short, and I wrote it really late in the night... But hey, it's here.**

**So sorry for the massive wait!**


End file.
